A recent court decision to throw out Act 13 zoning provisions has left many people wondering what’s next.
Penn State Extension will host a webinar Thursday to discuss what this decision means for the future.
The webinar, titled “A Blow to Act 13?:The Impact of the Commonwealth Court’s Decision on Local Zoning and Natural Gas Development in Pennsylvania,” is a one-hour session beginning at 1 p.m. The webinar is free and open to the public. It is of special interest to municipal officials and attorneys.
The webinar will feature Attorney Steve Saunders with Saunders Law LLC in Scranton. Saunders will provide information on traditional zoning in Pennsylvania and oil and gas development. He will help viewers try to make sense of the court’s rationale behind the Act 13 decision.
“Our main goal for the webinar is to clear up any misconceptions that people have about the court decision and to help them understand what their future course of action might be regarding Marcellus gas development,” David Messersmith, extension educator based in Wayne County, said. “We want to clarify what the court decision really means.”
Because the Commonwealth Court ruling was appealed by Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration to the state Supreme Court, municipal officials and others face considerable uncertainty about its immediate impact on natural-gas development.
“There are a lot of people who are interested in natural-gas development, and the Marcellus play impacts such a wide segment of the population— from business owners to local government officials to citizen stakeholders— so we believe that this program will be of interest to many,” Messersmith said.
The webinar can be viewed at meeting.psu.edu/pscems. No registration is necessary. For more information, contact Carol Loveland at 570-320-4429 or by email at cal24@psu.edu.
