Judge Deines Third-Party Intervention in Huntington Trailer Park Case

BY SCOT ANDREW PITZER, Times Staff Writer

A judge has denied a request by a group of citizens in Huntington Township to enter litigation involving a proposed trailer park near York Springs.

After weighing evidence for sixteen months, Adams County Judge John Kuhn ruled July 19 that a group known as “Save Our Rural Heritage” will not be allowed to proceed in the case as a third party.

The group was hoping that the court would consider them an “official party” in the case, as they have voiced concerns about the planned “Peakview” trailer park since it was first proposed 12 years ago. Township Supervisors rejected the planned 273-unit mobile home park in March 2010, primarily because the developer — CACO Three Inc. and Robert Mumma — did not submit water and sewer plans, as required by law.

The township also cited multiple ordinance violations, and the lack of approval from outside agencies, as reasons for its denial. After the decision, the developer appealed, and the citizens’ group filed a petition to intervene as a third-party. “Simply, this court’s scope of the review in the appeal is limited to determining whether the reasons written in the township’s March 11, 2010 denial of the plan constitute an error of law or an abuse of discretion,” wrote Judge Kuhn. “The possibility that alternative grounds for the township’s denial of the plan might exist is irrelevant to this court’s determination of the appeal,” continued Judge Kuhn.

“This court finds that the (group’s) interests that may be affected by the outcome of the appeal are adequately represented by the township,” ruled Judge Kuhn. The case is expected to meander its way through the legal system for years, evidenced by previous appeals in the land development process.

Members of Save Our Rural Heritage do not oppose the township denying the project, but would have liked to see more details factored into the rejection, such as traffic safety, wildlife and water table concerns. If the court approved the intervention, Save Our Rural Heritage would have had “party status” in the case, and could have participated in hearings. The group consists largely of property owners who abut the land where the trailer park would be located, in the area of Idaville-York Springs Road and Pa. 94.

Plans for the trailer park have drawn fire over the years from preservationists, as the development would be situated in the heart of the Upper Adams Fruit Belt atop 235 acres of farmland.

According to the township, the developer — Robert Mumma — owes about $30,000 for legal and engineering fees, that are traditionally paid by applicants. No legal fees have been expended in the case by the township. Mumma represents CACO III and Mann Realty, which filed or bankruptcy in May 2010 in U.S. Middle District Court. The developer has not conducted public interviews since the plans were first proposed in the late 1990s.

In March 2010, the township’s three-member board of supervisors rejected final plans for the “Peakview” mobile home park development, because the developer had not filed federally and state-mandated wastewater treatment modules. The developer filed an appeal in April 2010.

The project was originally submitted in 1998, one year before the township adopted zoning laws, which would have prevented the trailer park from being located there. Now, the land is zoned for agricultural-use.

Supervisors rejected the plans in 2000, citing incomplete planning modules, but Mumma appealed the decision through several courts, and the decision was overturned. The township was forced to approve the preliminary plans in Jan. 2005

Five years later, when the project approached its statute of limitations, the developer returned, but still did not complete the planning modules. After the second denial, Mumma appealed, arguing that those approvals were not necessary, and that the plans could approved conditionally.