Litigation
Helping Communities Develop
We successfully represented Lower Merion Township in a challenge to its attempts to redevelop an area of the Ardmore business district surrounding the Ardmore train station. Several local business and property owners filed suit against Lower Merion Township, SEPTA, Montgomery County's Planning Commission, and the Federal Transit Administration in an attempt to enjoin the redevelopment action. The Complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleging violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Transportation Act, Pennsylvania Urban Redevelopment Law, and the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
We filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and, later, an amended complaint, arguing there and at oral argument that none of Plaintiffs' claims was yet ripe, because no final agency action had occurred. The Court agreed fully, dismissing the case in its entirety and finding that "no final decision has been made by the local, state or federal Defendants regarding the taking of any private property without just compensation, let alone the taking of Plaintiffs' property." We continue to represent the Township in its ongoing efforts to revitalize this critical part of the Ardmore business district. The case was handled by shareholders John Summers and Sharon McKee and by associate Paul Kaufman.
We filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and, later, an amended complaint, arguing there and at oral argument that none of Plaintiffs' claims was yet ripe, because no final agency action had occurred. The Court agreed fully, dismissing the case in its entirety and finding that "no final decision has been made by the local, state or federal Defendants regarding the taking of any private property without just compensation, let alone the taking of Plaintiffs' property." We continue to represent the Township in its ongoing efforts to revitalize this critical part of the Ardmore business district. The case was handled by shareholders John Summers and Sharon McKee and by associate Paul Kaufman.