Kline v. City of Harrisburg

Kline and two others (the builders) (plaintiffs) entered into an agreement to erect five garden-style apartment buildings on a four-acre tract of land in a residential district in the city of Harrisburg. On April 25, 1949, the builders applied to the building inspector of the city of Harrisburg for a building permit authorizing the construction of the apartments. Harrisburg’s city planning commission had employed a zoning specialist in 1945 but had not yet approved a comprehensive zoning plan. On May 10, 1949, however, the Harrisburg city council passed an ordinance that prohibited the erection or construction of any buildings other than single-family detatched dwellings in the city’s residential districts. The ordinance was described in its preamble as a means to preserve the status quo in the city’s residential districts while the establishment of a comprehensive zoning plan was still underway. Based on this ordinance, the city denied the builders’ application for a building permit. The builders argued that the ordinance was an impermissible interim zoning ordinance that exceeded the city’s authority and contradicted the Third Class City Law (TCCL). The builders filed suit seeking to restrain the city of Harrisburg from enforcing the ordinance and to direct city officials to issue the builders a building permit.