James and Heidi Orie appeal the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Beaver County quashing their land use appeal on the ground that they failed to appear before the Borough of Beaver’s (Borough) zoning hearing board to object to the grant of variances requested by the local library, which is located on the lot adjacent to the Ones’ home.
The Beaver County Memorial Library (Library), a nonconforming use in an R-l residential area, applied for a zoning per*624mit to expand the library’s existing 7,600-square foot building by an additional 4,200 square feet. The Borough denied the permit, stating that the zoning hearing board would have to act on any request to enlarge the library budding. The Library subsequently applied for variances for waiver of the zoning ordinance’s provisions for rear yard setbacks, allowable lot coverage, and off-street parking requirements.1
The zoning hearing board scheduled a public hearing on the Library’s application for January 28, 1999. The Ories sent the zoning hearing board a letter dated January 25, 19992 expressing their concerns with the extension of the existing library building to within ten feet of their property and the off-street parking requirements. In their letter, the Ories advocated a smaller addition and/or other alternatives to the proposed addition that would maintain the greenery and trees separating the Ories’ home from the Library and more appropriately maintain the esthetics or character of the neighborhood. James Orie attended the public hearing, but he did not speak. Ultimately, the zoning board granted the requested variances, and the Ories appealed to the trial court. The Library, intervenor before the trial court, moved to quash the Ories’ appeal on the ground that they failed to make a timely appearance of record and failed to speak in opposition to the grant of the variances and, therefore, lack standing to appeal and failed to preserve the issues they raised on appeal.
The trial court quashed the Ories’ appeal for lack of standing based on their failure to make an appearance before the zoning board. The trial judge relied on our decision in Leoni v. Whitpain Township Zoning Hearing Board, 709 A.2d 999 (Pa.Cmwlth.1998), petition for allowance of appeal denied, 557 Pa. 642, 732 A.2d 1211 (1998), in which we stated that only parties before the zoning hearing board may appeal its decision. The trial judge distinguished Gateside Queensgate Company v. Delaware Petroleum Company, 134 Pa. Cmwlth. 603, 580 A.2d 443 (1990), in which we permitted an appeal by a person who had participated before the zoning board only to the extent of filing a letter with the board setting forth his objections to the application for variance.
Section 908(3) of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC)3 provides as follows:
(3) The parties to the hearing shall be the municipality, any person affected by the application who has made timely appearance of record before the board, and any other person including civic or community organizations permitted to appear by the board. The board shall have the power to require that all persons who wish to be considered parties enter appearances in writing on forms provided by the board for that purpose.
Neither the Borough nor the Library contends — and the record does not indicate— that the Borough’s zoning hearing board requires a written appearance.4 The single issue for our review is whether the Ories made a timely appearance of record before the zoning board.
*625In Gateside, the issue before us was whether a person has standing to appeal a zoning hearing board decision when that person has theretofore participated in the proceedings only to the extent of filing a letter with the board setting forth his objections to the application. We held that such a letter filed with the board fulfills the requirements of Section 908(3) of the MPC. We reasoned that “[w]hat is important to the issue of standing is that ‘persons aggrieved’ by or in regard to the zoning or land use matter shall first submit their objections to the zoning hearing board.” 580 A.2d at 446. As in Gateside, the Ories, as adjacent landowners, are unquestionably “persons aggrieved,” and they have first submitted their objections to the zoning hearing board. In the present matter, James Orie went a step further and attended the public hearing.
Our decision in Leoni in no way diminishes our holding in Gateside. In Leoni, we held that adjoining property owners lacked standing to appeal a zoning hearing board’s grant of a variance because they failed to participate in the proceedings in any way. We distinguished Gateside as a case in which the would-be appellant who had submitted an objection had in fact made an appearance within the meaning of the MPC, if not a personal appearance. 709 A.2d at 1003.
Based on our decisions in Gateside and Leoni, we conclude that the trial court erred in quashing the Ories’ appeal. Accordingly, we vacate the trial court’s order and remand this matter for further proceedings.
ORDER
AND NOW, this 18th day of January 2001, the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Beaver County in the above-captioned matter is vacated, and this matter is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.
Jurisdiction is relinquished.
. The variances would permit the Library to continue a six-fool setback established for the existing building, increase lot coverage to 67 percent, and completely waive off-street parking required by ordinance because the provision of any off-street parking would preclude the construction of the proposed addition. (Attachment to Application for Variance.)
. The letter is Exhibit A to the Library’s Motion to Quash Zoning Appeal.
. Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, 53 P.S. § 10908(3).
. Although counsel may be expected to be familiar with a board's procedural and substantive rules, the average citizen will likely be unaware of a substantive rule requiring a written appearance. The better practice would be for a board to disclose and explain on the record, prior to the conclusion of the hearing, any steps a citizen must take to protect his or her appeal rights.