Layne v. Zoning Board of Adjustment

I agree with the Commonwealth Court that exclusion of boarding homes from R-4 residential districts when rooming houses are allowed in such districts is not supported by a reasonable basis.

Rooming houses in cities of the class as Pittsburgh are as much, if not more of a transient trade as boarding homes. Further, I question the accuracy today of equating a boarding home which serves one or even two meals with a commercial restaurant.

Actually, it appears that rooming houses are more commercial in nature because the business of renting rooms in large cities is frequently more transient than…