The membership of the Zoning Hearing Board shall consist of
five residents of the Township appointed by the Board of Supervisors.
Their terms of office shall be five years and shall be so fixed that
the term of office of one member shall expire each year. The Zoning
Hearing Board shall promptly notify the Supervisors of any vacancies
which occur. Appointments to fill vacancies shall be only for the
unexpired portion of the term. Members of the Zoning Hearing Board
shall hold no other office in the Township.
Any Zoning Hearing Board member may be removed for malfeasance,
misfeasance or nonfeasance in office or for other just cause by a
majority vote of the Board of Supervisors, taken after the member
has received 15 days' advance notice of the intent to take such a
vote. A hearing shall be held in connection with the vote if the member
shall request it in writing.
A.
The Zoning Hearing Board shall elect from its own membership its
officers, who shall serve annual terms as such and may succeed themselves.
B.
For the conduct of any hearing and the taking of any action, a quorum
shall be not less than a majority of all the members of the Zoning
Hearing Board.
C.
The Zoning Hearing Board may appoint a hearing officer from its own
membership to conduct any hearing on its behalf, and the parties may
waive further action by the Zoning Hearing Board as provided in this
article.
D.
The Zoning Hearing Board may take, alter and rescind rules and forms
for its procedure consistent with ordinances of the municipality and
laws of the commonwealth.
E.
The Zoning Hearing Board shall keep full public records of its business
and shall submit a report of its activities to the Supervisors once
a year.
Within the limits of funds appropriated by the Supervisors,
the Zoning Hearing Board may employ or contract for secretaries, clerks,
legal counsel, consultants and other technical and clerical services.
Members of the Zoning Hearing Board may receive compensation for the
performance of their duties, as may be authorized by the Supervisors
by ordinance.
The Board shall conduct public hearings and make decisions in
accordance with the following requirements:
A.
Notice shall be given to the public, the applicant, the Zoning/Code
Enforcement Officer, such other persons as the Supervisors shall designate
by ordinance and to any person who has made timely request for the
same. Notices shall be given at such time and in such manner as shall
be prescribed by ordinance or, in the absence of ordinance provision,
by rules of the Zoning Hearing Board. The Supervisors may establish
reasonable fees, based on cost, to be paid by the applicant and by
persons requesting any notice not required by ordinance.
B.
The hearings shall be conducted by the Zoning Hearing Board, or the
Zoning Hearing Board may appoint any member as a hearing officer.
The decision or, where no decision is called for, the findings shall
be made by the Zoning Hearing Board, but the parties may waive decision
or findings by the Zoning Hearing Board and accept the decision or
findings of the hearing officer as final.
C.
The parties to the hearing shall be the municipality, any person
affected by the application who has made timely appearance of record
before the Zoning Hearing Board and any other person, including civic
or community organizations permitted by the Zoning Hearing Board.
The Zoning Hearing 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 Zoning Hearing Board for that purpose.
D.
The Chairman or Acting Chairman of the Zoning Hearing Board or the
hearing officer presiding shall have power to administer oaths and
issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production
of relevant documents and papers, including witnesses and documents
requested by the parties.
E.
The parties shall have the right to be represented by counsel and
shall be afforded the opportunity to respond and present evidence
and argument and cross-examine adverse witnesses on all relevant issues.
F.
Formal rules of evidence shall not apply, but irrelevant, immaterial
or unduly repetitious evidence may be excluded.
G.
The Zoning Hearing Board or the hearing officer, as the case may
be, shall keep a stenographic record of the proceedings, and a transcript
of the proceedings and copies of graphic or written material received
in evidence shall be made available to any party at cost.
H.
The Zoning Hearing Board or the hearing officer shall not communicate,
directly or indirectly, with any party or his representatives in connection
with any issue involved except upon notice and opportunity for all
parties to participate, shall not take notice of any communication,
reports, staff memoranda or other materials unless the parties are
afforded an opportunity to contest the material so noticed and shall
not inspect the site or its surroundings with any party or his representative
unless all parties are given an opportunity to be present.
I.
The Zoning Hearing Board or the hearing officer, as the case may
be, shall render a written decision or, when no decision is called
for, make written findings on the application within 45 days after
the last hearing before the Zoning Hearing Board or hearing officer.
Each decision shall be accompanied by findings of fact and conclusions
based thereon together with the reasons therefor. A conclusion based
on any provisions of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code,
Act 247 of 1968,[1] or of any ordinance, rule or regulation shall contain
a reference to the provision relied on and the reasons why the conclusion
is deemed appropriate in the light of the fact found. If the hearing
is conducted by a hearing officer, and there has been no stipulation
that his decision or findings are final, the Zoning Hearing Board
shall make his report and recommendations available to the parties,
and the parties shall be entitled to make written recommendations
thereon to the Zoning Hearing Board prior to final decision or entry
of findings, and the Zoning Hearing Board's decision shall be entered
no later than 45 days after the decision of the hearing officer. Where
the Zoning Hearing Board has power to render a decision, and the Zoning
Hearing Board or the hearing officer, as the case may be, fails to
render the same within the period required by this subsection, the
decision shall be deemed to have been rendered in favor of the applicant,
unless the applicant has agreed, in writing, to an extension of time.
Nothing in this subsection shall prejudice the right of any party
opposing the application to urge that such decision is erroneous.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
J.
A copy of the final decision or, where no decision is called for,
of the findings shall be delivered to the applicant personally or
mailed to him not later than the day following its date. To all other
persons who have filed their name and address with the Zoning Hearing
Board not later than the last day of the hearing, the Zoning Hearing
Board shall provide, by mail or otherwise, brief notice of the decision
or findings and a statement of the place at which the full decision
or findings may be examined.
A.
Appeals from Zoning/Code Enforcement Officer. The Zoning Hearing
Board shall hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant
that the Zoning/Code Enforcement Officer has failed to follow prescribed
procedures or has misinterpreted or misapplied any provision of a
valid ordinance or map or any valid rule or regulation governing the
action of the Zoning/Code Enforcement Officer. Nothing contained herein
shall be construed to deny to the appellant the right to proceed directly
in court, where appropriate, pursuant to the Pennsylvania Rules of
Civil Procedure, Rules 1091 to 1098, relating to mandamus.
B.
Challenge to the validity of any ordinance or map. The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear challenges to the validity of a zoning ordinance or map. In all such challenges, the Zoning Hearing Board shall take evidence and make a record thereon as provided in § 87-191. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Board shall decide all contested questions and shall make findings on all relevant issues of fact, which shall become part of the record on appeal to the court.
C.
Variances. The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear requests for variances
where it is alleged that the provisions of this chapter inflict unnecessary
hardship upon the applicant. The Zoning Hearing Board may by rule
prescribe the form of application and may require preliminary application
to the Zoning/Code Enforcement Officer. The Zoning Hearing Board may
grant a variance, provided that the following findings are made where
relevant in a given case:
(1)
There are unique physical circumstances or conditions, including
irregularity, narrowness or shallowness of lot size or shape, or exceptional
topographical or other physical conditions peculiar to the particular
property and that the unnecessary hardship is due to such conditions
and not the circumstances or conditions generally created by the provisions
of this chapter in the neighborhood or district in which the property
is located;
(2)
Because of such physical circumstances or conditions, there is no
possibility that the property can be developed in strict conformity
with the provisions of this chapter and that the authorization of
a variance is therefore necessary to enable the reasonable use of
the property;
(3)
Such unnecessary hardship has not been created by the applicant;
(4)
The variance, if authorized, will not alter the essential character
of the neighborhood or district in which the property is located or
substantially or permanently impair the appropriate use or development
of adjacent properties or be detrimental to the public welfare; and
(5)
The variance, if authorized, will represent the minimum variance
that will afford relief and will represent the least modification
possible of the regulation in issue. In granting any variance, the
Zoning Hearing Board may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards
as it may deem necessary to implement the purposes of this chapter.
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Variance Procedure
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A.
Where the governing body, in this chapter, has stated special exceptions
to be granted or denied by the Board pursuant to express standards
and criteria, the Zoning Hearing Board shall hear and decide requests
for such special exceptions in accordance with such standards and
criteria. In granting a special exception, the Zoning Hearing Board
may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards, in addition
to those expressed in this chapter, as it may deem necessary to implement
the purposes of this chapter.
When the Zoning Hearing Board grants a variance or a special
exception pursuant to this article, it shall establish a time period
between six months and one year during which the applicant shall take
action. For purposes of this section, such action shall mean that
the applicant has applied for and obtained all necessary permits and
approvals and started construction or, if no construction is anticipated,
commenced the use for which the variance or special exception was
granted. If the applicant fails to satisfy these requirements during
the required time frame, he shall be required to file a new application
with the Zoning Hearing Board for a variance or special exception,
unless a timely request for an extension is made in writing and the
Zoning Hearing Board determines that the failure to act within the
required time period was due to circumstances beyond the applicant's
control.
Where the Zoning Hearing Board has jurisdiction over a zoning
matter pursuant to this article, the Zoning Hearing Board shall also
hear all appeals which an applicant may elect to bring before it with
respect to any municipal ordinance or requirement pertaining to the
same development plan or development. In any such case, the Zoning
Hearing Board shall have no power to pass upon the nonzoning issues
but shall take evidence and make a record thereon as provided in this
article. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Zoning Hearing Board
shall make findings on all relevant issues of fact, which shall become
part of the record on appeal to the court.
Appeals and proceedings to challenge an ordinance under this
article may be filed with the Zoning Hearing Board, in writing, by
the landowner affected, any officer or agency of the municipality
or any person aggrieved. Requests for a variance and for special exception
under this article may be filed with the Zoning Hearing Board by any
landowner or any tenant with the permission of such landowner.
A.
No person shall be allowed to file any proceeding with the Zoning
Hearing Board later than 30 days after an application for development,
preliminary or final, has been approved by an appropriate municipal
officer, agency or body if such proceeding is designed to secure reversal
or to limit the approval in any manner unless such person alleges
and proves that he had no notice, knowledge or reason to believe that
such approval had been given. If such person has succeeded to his
interest after such approval, he shall be bound by the knowledge of
his predecessor in interest.
B.
The failure of anyone other than the landowner to appeal from an
adverse decision on a tentative or preliminary plan or from an adverse
decision by the Zoning/Code Enforcement Officer on a challenge to
the validity of an ordinance or map shall preclude an appeal from
a final approval except in the case where the final submission substantially
deviates from the approved tentative or preliminary approval.
Upon filing of any proceeding under this article and during
its pendency before the Zoning Hearing Board, all land development
pursuant to any challenged ordinance, order or approval of the Zoning/Code
Enforcement Officer or of any agency or body and all official action
thereunder shall be stayed unless the Zoning/Code Enforcement Officer
or any other appropriate agency or body certifies to the Zoning Hearing
Board facts indicating that such stay would cause imminent peril to
life or property, in which case the development or official action
shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order, which may
be granted by the Zoning Hearing Board or by the court having jurisdiction
of zoning appeals on petition, after notice to the Zoning/Code Enforcement
Officer or other appropriate agency or body. When an application for
development, preliminary or final, has been duly approved, and proceedings
designated to reverse or limit the approval are filed with the Zoning
Hearing Board by persons other than the applicant, the applicant may
petition the court having jurisdiction of zoning appeals to order
such persons to post bond as a condition to continuing the proceedings
before the Zoning Hearing Board. The question whether or not such
petition should be granted and the amount of the bond shall be within
the sound discretion of the court.
