From the PNA Legal Hotline

By Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association

Q: A zoning hearing board heard testimony on a zoning application, took public comment, and then met privately to discuss the application and public comment. After the private discussion, the board voted publicly to approve the application. Can they do that?

A: Yes, but they are not required to conduct these deliberations behind closed doors.

Section 708(a)(5) of the Sunshine Act allows private deliberations “to review and discuss agency business which, if conducted in public, would violate a lawful privilege or lead to the disclosure of information or confidentiality protected by law, including matters related to the initiation and conduct of investigations of possible or certain violations of the law and quasi-judicial deliberations.”

This executive session exception allows agencies acting in a quasi-judicial capacity to deliberate privately. Zoning hearing boards are the most common example of a quasi-judicial agency or an agency that functions similarly to a court of law.

It is important to note that the Sunshine Act does not require quasi-judicial deliberations to be conducted privately, and many agencies deliberate these issues during public meetings.