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By MARK GUYDISH haz1@ptd.net
Sunday, January 30, 2000 Page: 4
HAZLE TWP. – Hazleton Area School Board assistant solicitor Ed McNelis
will be trying to maintain his unbeaten streak in the State Supreme Court
chambers Monday when he lines up against Hazle Township solicitor Charles
Pedri.
The two will be arguing whether the township Zoning Board has the legal
right to restrict the district’s use of its own athletic fields. County and
commonwealth courts already have ruled in favor of the township.
It will be the second appearance before the high court for both men.
McNelis stood before the supreme justices in February to successfully argue
that The Times Leader did not have a right to see teacher application forms.
Pedri could recall little of his first Supreme foray in the late 1970s
shortly after landing work as an attorney.
The legal battle centers on use of district athletic fields, particularly a
baseball field, built on land in the township adjacent to the central high
school. The construction required approval by the township Zoning Board.
“The township board said OK, but we could only use the property for
practice in interscholastic competition,” McNelis said, “and that’s the crux
of this whole issue here.”
The district wants the option of renting the field to other organizations,
as well as to use it for school programs other than interscholastic
competition, McNelis said.
“As a practical matter we have the baseball field sitting idle,” McNelis
said. “There are 10 or so home games and practices, and it sits idle the rest
of summer and the rest of year. The district can’t even use it for classrooms,
study or band practice.
“So they’ve taken away not only our ability to use it for non-school
related purposes, but we can’t use it for school related purposes either.”
McNelis bases his legal argument on the state School Code, which he said
allows districts to “utilize their facilities, both buildings and grounds, in
fashions that the School Board deems appropriate.”
Pedri counters that the School Code “does not pre-empt the Hazle Township
zoning laws, and Hazle Township has the right to regulate use of that land.”
The township insists on the restrictions because there are no bathroom
facilities at the field and because neighbors have expressed concerns about
parking and noise if it were to be used more frequently, Pedri said.
“That was in fact agreed to in the early 1990s by the then-existing School
Board,” Pedri said. “Later on, they came back and applied to amend it and we
rejected that.”
The attorneys already have submitted written arguments to the court and
will each have about 15 minutes to make oral arguments and answer questions
from the justices, McNelis said. The court usually takes six to eight weeks to
issue a decision after the hearing, Pedri said.
Neither attorney could give specific figures when asked what the case is
costing their clients. Pedri is billing $95 an hour; McNelis is charging $90.