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Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC) — Act 247 of 1968 (PA)

Tracked preemption from the Pennsylvania overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
1968-07-31
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:PA
Other Pennsylvania preemptions
Pennsylvania Act 13 — Oil & Gas Operational Preemption (58 Pa.C.S. §3303)Chesapeake Bay Watershed — Riparian Buffer & E&S Control (25 Pa. Code Ch. 102)Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory (PNDI) Environmental ReviewMPC §503(1.1) — Manufactured / Industrialized Housing PreemptionPennsylvania Uniform Construction Code (UCC) — Building Code PreemptionFirearms — Local Regulation Preemption (18 Pa.C.S. §6120)Pennsylvania History Code — State Historic Preservation Review (Pa.C.S. Title 37)Pennsylvania Agricultural Area Security Law — Agricultural Security Areas (Act 43 / Act 38 of 2005)

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

AND
  • NOT
    • city.governance_class ∈ {first_class_city}

Preempted fields

3 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
review_typerequirempc_consistent_zoning_subdivision_ordinanceMunicipal zoning, subdivision, and land development authority flows from and is limited by the MPC. Procedural requirements (notice, hearing-board structure, curative-amendment procedure) bind all MPC-governed municipalities.
base_districts[*].allowed_usesrequireprovide_for_all_basic_forms_of_housing§10301(a)(4): planning process shall provide for housing of various dwelling types encompassing all basic forms of housing. §10603(c.2): municipalities may not prohibit through zoning certain traditional residential uses outright; they must provide for all legitimate uses somewhere in the jurisdiction (the exclusionary-zoning doctrine, Surrick v. Zoning Hearing Board of Upper Providence Twp., 382 A.2d 105 (Pa. 1977)).
review_typerequirevalidity_challenge_curative_amendment_availability§10609.1 / §10916.1 establish the validity-challenge / curative-amendment procedure — the PA analog to a builder's remedy. Developer may challenge an exclusionary ordinance and (if successful) obtain site-specific relief.

Citation

Authority source
Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, as reenacted and amended — 53 P.S. §10101 et seq.
§ 53 P.S. §§10101–11202; see esp. §§10301(a)(4), 10603(b)–(c.2), 10609.1, 10916.1
https://dced.pa.gov/download/pennsylvania-municipalities-planning-code-act-247/

Research notes

Codified in unofficial Purdon's Statutes (53 P.S.), NOT in the consolidated Pa.C.S. — common citation pitfall. Excludes Philadelphia (First Class City — separate enabling act). Pittsburgh (Second Class) and Scranton (Second Class A) home-rule charters typically track MPC procedure but are not formally bound. No state administrative enforcement agency; remedy is judicial via Common Pleas → Commonwealth Court → Supreme Court of PA.