## Facts

- Freeholders of Toby Farms, a 92-acre area within Chester Township, Delaware County, petitioned to incorporate as the Borough of Bridgewater.
- Chester Township and the Chester-Upland School District filed exceptions opposing incorporation.
- After an amended petition and hearings, the trial court appointed a five-member Borough Advisory Committee under § 202 of The Borough Code to evaluate advisability.
- The Committee recommended denial (with two dissenters), concluding incorporation would severely damage the remaining township’s fiscal condition and intensify racial separation.
- Evidence indicated Chester Township was about 59% White and 41% non-White; incorporation would create a borough about 82.5% White and leave the remaining township about 26.6% White and 73% non-White.
- The proposed borough was largely residential, while the existing township included commercial property and low-income housing tied to the township’s tax base and service obligations.
- The court of common pleas adopted the Committee’s findings, concluded incorporation was inadvisable due to projected financial and racial effects, and denied the petition.
- Petitioners appealed, arguing that meeting statutory conditions required certification for referendum and that the denial reflected an improper exercise of discretion.

## Issues

1. Under § 202 of The Borough Code, does a trial court retain discretion to deny incorporation based on statutory advisability factors, or must it certify the petition for referendum once threshold requirements are satisfied?
2. Did the trial court abuse its discretion in finding incorporation not advisable given projected fiscal harm to the remaining township and effects on community composition and service burdens?
3. May a court consider racial demographic shifts and related socio-economic consequences as part of the § 202 advisability determination?

## Decision

- The Commonwealth Court affirmed the order denying incorporation.
- The court held § 202 preserves the trial court’s broad discretion to decide whether incorporation is “advisable” after weighing the statutory factors; the decision is not ministerial.
- The advisory committee’s report is informative but not binding; the trial court may adopt it where supported by the record.
- The trial court did not abuse its discretion in concluding incorporation would seriously harm the remaining township financially and contribute to racial separation, making incorporation inadvisable.

## Legal Principles

- Under § 202 of The Borough Code, incorporation turns on a discretionary advisability judgment that includes community cohesion/harmony, ability to provide services, and the effect on the remaining township.
- A trial court is not required to certify an incorporation petition for referendum merely because objective prerequisites (such as signatures or other threshold conditions) are met.
- Appellate review of an incorporation denial is for abuse of discretion, not substitution of judgment on the weight of evidence.
- In assessing advisability, a court may consider interrelated fiscal, service-delivery, and demographic consequences, including racial effects, insofar as they bear on community harmony and the viability of the remaining township.

## Conclusion

The court upheld denial of the Bridgewater incorporation petition, ruling that § 202 entrusts trial courts with discretionary authority to reject incorporations that would substantially weaken the remaining township’s fiscal stability and alter community composition in ways bearing on statutory advisability.


In re Incorporation of the Borough of Bridgewater, 488 A.2d 374 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1985)