State Supreme Court Upholds Conservation Easement
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a school district needs conservation easement holder approval for a road easement over conserved land. The Supreme Court based the finding on the plain language of both the statute and the conservation easement.
The Ephrata School District purchased a road easement over land conserved by the county. The county denied their request to approve the road easement. The school district sued, lost at the trial court and won at the appeals court before ultimately losing in the state Supreme Court.
The text of the Supreme Court case
Briefs Submitted:
- County of Lancaster (Supreme Court appellant) brief
- Ephrata Area School District (Supreme Court appellee) brief
- Ephrata Area School District (Appeals Court appellant) brief
- Ephrata Area School District (Appeals Court appellant) reply brief
- Borough of Ephrata and Lancaster County Agricultural Preserve Board (Appeals Court appellee) brief
- Borough of Ephrata and Lancaster County Agricultural Preserve Board (Appeals Court appellee) reply brief
- Centre County Agricultural Preservation Board brief
- Chesapeake Bay Foundation Inc. brief
- County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania brief
- Lancaster Farmland Trust and Lancaster County Conservancy brief
- Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation Association, Lancaster County Coalition for Smart Growth and Lancaster County Conservation District brief
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