Proving Intention to Abandon Nor Actual Abandonment of Property

In Latrobe Speedway, 553 Pa. 583, 720 A.2d 127 (1998), a lessee sought to use the property he had leased for auto racing, a non-conforming use that had not been conducted on the property for nearly fourteen years. However, the landowner testified that he never intended to abandon the racetrack use of the property. Further, although the structures on the property were in disrepair, the landowner had made no attempt had been made to dismantle them or otherwise convert the use of the thirty-five acre tract for something other than racing. Finally, the owner paid real property taxes based on the property's assessment as a racetrack, and he was attempting to sell or lease the premises as a racetrack. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded that these facts supported neither an intention to abandon nor actual abandonment.