Does An Agreement In Which a Company Leases Capacity and Not Land Constitute Land Development or Subdivision ?

In Marshall Township Board of Supervisors v. Marshall Township Zoning Hearing Board, 717 A.2d 1 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1998), Unisite, a wireless company, leased a portion of a parking lot owned by the U.S. Post Office. Unisite then entered into a sub-lease agreement with American Portable Telecom (APT), pursuant to which APT proposed to replace an existing 100-foot lamp pole with a 150-foot combined antenna and light pole for the installation of APT's communications equipment. The township's supervisors argued that the lease agreements constituted a subdivision and land development, but we held otherwise. The agreement between Unisite and APT did not allocate or subdivide the land; allocation took place, if at all, when the U.S. Post Office leased its land to Unisite. Unisite authorized APT to construct a new and higher pole, but it did not in any way impact the land. Because APT leased capacity, not land, its agreement did not establish a land development or subdivision.