Gaebel v. Thornbury Township Zoning Hearing Board

Opinion by

Judge Mandarino,

This appeal arises from a decision of the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County which refused William Gaebel and his wife permission to use their land *219for Gaebel’s business as a heavy equipment contractor and excavator.

Gaebel owns over seven acres of land in Thornbury Township in an area which is zoned partly Commercial and partly Flood Plain. Under the Thornbury Township Zoning Ordinance, neither a Commercial area nor a Flood Plain area has as one of its permitted uses a contracting or excavating business. In 1969, Gaebel began using his land in connection with…