Delaware Riverkeeper, et al. s.v Middlesex (summary disposition)

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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA WESTERN DISTRICT DELAWARE RIVERKEEPER NETWORK, CLEAN AIR COUNCIL, DAVID DENK, JENNIFER CHOMICKI, AND JOANN GROMAN, Petitioners v. MIDDLESEX TOWNSHIP ZONING HEARING BOARD, Respondent v. R.E. GAS DEVELOPMENT, LLC, MIDDLESEX TOWNSHIP, AND ROBERT G. GEYER, Respondent : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : No. 270 WAL 2017 Petition for Allowance of Appeal from the Unpublished Memorandum Opinion and Order of the Commonwealth Court at No. 2609 CD 2015 entered on June 7, 2017, affirming the Order of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas at No. No. 15-10429 entered on November 19, 2015 ORDER PER CURIAM AND NOW, this 3rd day of August, 2018, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is GRANTED. The Order of the Commonwealth Court is VACATED and this matter is REMANDED to the Commonwealth Court for reconsideration of its decision in light of Pa. Envtl. Def. Found. v. Commonwealth, 161 A.3d 911 (Pa. 2017). In addition, in light of the amendments contained in Middlesex Township Ordinance 127, which expressly include gas well development as a permitted use in the subject R-AG zone, and our decision in Gorsline v. Bd. of Sup. of Fairfield Twp., ---A.3d---, 2018 WL 2448803 (Pa. 2018) wherein we noted “this decision should not be misconstrued as an indication that oil and gas development is never permitted in residential/agricultural districts, or that it is fundamentally incompatible with residential or agricultural uses,” we direct the Commonwealth Court to reconsider the relevance of Gorsline to its analysis of the issues on appeal in this case. [270 WAL 2017] - 2

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