[Amended 5-18-1992 by Ord. No. 1549; 12-8-1997 by Ord. No. 1622; 6-14-2004 by Ord. No. 1702]
The Zoning Administrator and Zoning Officer, who shall be appointed
by the Manager, shall interpret and enforce all the regulations and
provisions of this chapter and shall have such duties and powers as
are conferred on him by this chapter as are reasonably implied for
that purpose. The Zoning Administrator and/or Zoning Officer shall:
A.
Receive, examine and process all applications for zoning permits.
B.
Issue permits only where there is compliance with the provisions
of this chapter. Permits for construction or uses requiring a special
exception or variance shall be issued upon order of the Zoning Hearing
Board. Permits for conditional uses requiring approval of City Council
shall be issued only after receipt of approval from City Council.
C.
Receive applications for conditional uses, curative amendments and
zoning amendments, forwarding such requests to City Council or other
appropriate agencies.
D.
Receive applications for special exceptions and variances and forward
those applications to the Zoning Hearing Board.
E.
Conduct inspections to determine compliance or noncompliance with
this chapter.
F.
Issue zoning certificates upon completion of permitted work that
complies with this chapter.
G.
In addition, the Zoning Administrator shall review all applications
for completeness and reject in writing, with cause given for rejection.
B.
Applications for a zoning permit shall be accompanied by a site plan
showing clearly and completely the location, dimensions, architecture
and use of any structures involved; location, size, arrangement and
capacity of parking areas; methods of illumination, signage and description
of proposed use in sufficient detail to indicate compliance with this
chapter, together with an application fee as established by resolution
of City Council.
(1)
The Zoning Administrator shall render a decision by approving or
disapproving the application. Disapproval shall be in writing explaining
the reasons for such disapproval and corrections or modifications
necessary to obtain the required approval.
C.
Upon approval of the application, a permit shall be issued.
D.
If the use and/or work authorized is not initiated within six months
from the date of the permit, such permit shall be null and void.
E.
Upon completion of permitted work and inspection to determine that
the use or work complies with the chapter, a zoning certificate shall
be issued stating that the structure or use complies with this chapter.
A.
Enforcement notice. When it appears to the Zoning Administrator that
a violation has occurred, the Zoning Administrator shall send an enforcement
notice. The enforcement notice shall be sent to the owner of record
of the parcel on which the violation has occurred, to any person who
has filed a written request to receive enforcement notices regarding
the parcel, and to any other person requested in writing by the owner
of record. The enforcement notice shall state the following:
(1)
The name of the owner of record and any other person against whom
the City intends to take action.
(2)
The location of the property in violation.
(3)
The specific violation with a description of the requirements which
have not been met, citing in each instance the applicable provisions
of the chapter.
(4)
The date before which the steps for compliance must be commenced
and the date before which the steps must be completed.
(5)
That the recipient of the notice has the right to appeal to the Zoning
Hearing Board within 30 days.
(6)
That failure to comply with the notice within the time specified,
unless extended by appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board, constitutes
a violation, with possible sanctions clearly described.
B.
Causes of action. In case any building, structure, landscaping or
land is, or is proposed to be, erected, constructed, reconstructed,
altered, converted, maintained or used in violation of this chapter,
the City, the Zoning Administrator of the City, or any aggrieved owner
or tenant of real property who shows that his property or person will
be substantially affected by the alleged violation, in addition to
other remedies, may institute any appropriate action or proceeding
to prevent, restrain, correct or abate such building, structure, landscaping
or land, or to prevent, in or about such premises, any act, conduct,
business or use constituting a violation. When any such action is
instituted by a landowner or tenant, notice of that action shall be
served upon the City at least 30 days prior to the time the action
is begun by serving a copy of the complaint on the City Council of
the City of Warren. No such action may be maintained until such notice
has been given.
C.
Enforcement remedies. Any person, partnership or corporation who
or which has violated or permitted the violation of the provisions
of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil
enforcement proceeding commenced by the City, pay a judgment of not
more than $600 plus all court costs, including reasonable attorneys'
fees incurred by the City as a result thereof. No judgment shall commence
or be imposed, levied or payable until the date of the determination
of a violation by the Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant
neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the City may enforce
the judgment pursuant to the applicable rules of civil procedure.
Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation,
unless the Magisterial District Judge determining that there has been
a violation further determines that there was a good-faith basis for
the person, partnership or corporation violating this chapter to have
believed that there was no such violation, in which event there shall
be deemed to have been only one such violation until the fifth day
following the date of the determination of a violation by the Magisterial
District Judge, and thereafter each day that a violation continues
shall constitute a separate violation. All judgments, costs and reasonable
attorneys' fees collected for the violation of zoning ordinances shall
be paid over to the City. Nothing contained in this section shall
be construed or interpreted to grant any person or entity other than
the City and its Zoning Administrator the right to commence any action
for enforcement pursuant to this section.
(1)
Right of entry. In order to carry out the purpose and provisions
of this chapter, the Zoning Administrator or his designated agent,
upon showing proper identification of office, may enter, examine,
survey and inspect any premises. The owner, operator or occupant of
every premise shall give the Zoning Administrator or his agent free
access for the purpose of such inspection, examination and survey.
Any person or City official aggrieved or affected by any decision
of the Zoning Administrator may appeal to the Board within 30 days,
as provided by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code and by
the rules of the Board, by filing a notice of appeal specifying the
grounds thereof.
A.
Procedure for amendments. Whenever deemed desirable and to meet the
public needs, and in conformity with good zoning practice, the zoning
regulations, restrictions and boundaries may, from time to time, be
amended, supplemented, changed, modified or repealed by the City Council
in accordance with provisions of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning
Code, Act 247 of 1968, as amended, with the following general procedures:
(2)
Amendments shall be submitted to the City Council at a regular or
special meeting of the Council.
(3)
Before voting on the enactment of an amendment, the Council shall
hold a public hearing on the proposed amendment, pursuant to public
notice as defined in § 107, Public Notice, of the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247 of 1968, as amended, 53 P.S.
§ 10107.
(4)
All amendments shall be submitted to the City of Warren Planning
Commission and the Warren County Planning Commission for review and
recommendation prior to the public hearing as prescribed in § 609,
Enactment of Zoning Ordinance Amendments, and § 609.1, Procedure
upon Curative Amendments, of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning
Code, Act 247 of 1968, as amended.
B.
Amendment filing fee. The filing fee for a zoning amendment shall
be in the amount as established by resolution of City Council and
shall be submitted with the application.
C.
Referral. Any proposed amendment presented to the City Council without
written findings and recommendations from the City of Warren Planning
Commission and the Warren County Planning Commission shall be referred
to those agencies for their review and recommendations prior to the
public hearing by the City Council. The City Council shall not hold
a public hearing upon such amendments until required reviews and recommendations
are received or the expiration of 30 days from the date that such
proposed amendments were submitted to the Warren City and Warren County
Planning Commissions.
D.
Action. Before acting upon a proposed amendment, the City Council
shall, as required by law, hold a public hearing thereon. Public notice
of such hearing is required and shall contain a brief summary of the
proposed amendment and reference to the place where copies of the
same may be examined and shall be published in accordance with the
provisions of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. If the
proposed amendment involves a change to the Zoning Map, notice of
the public hearing shall be posted at the affected tract in accordance
with Section 609 of the Planning Code at least one week prior to the
date of the hearing. (See 53 P.S. § 10609.)
E.
Curative amendments.
(1)
A landowner who desires to challenge on substantive grounds the validity
of this chapter or the Zoning Map, or any provision thereof, which
prohibits or restricts the use or development of land in which he
has an interest, may submit a curative amendment to the City Council
with a written request that his challenge and proposed amendment be
heard and decided as provided in § 916.1 of the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247), as amended. The City Council
shall commence a hearing thereon within 60 days. As with other proposed
amendments, the curative amendment shall be referred to the City of
Warren Planning Commission and the Warren County Planning Commission
at least 30 days before the hearing is conducted by the City Council.
Public notice shall be given in accordance with applicable provision
of the Planning Code. The hearings shall be conducted in accordance
with instructions as set forth by Section 916.1 of the Planning Code
(53 P.S. § 10916.1). The findings, actions and considerations
of the City Council shall be in accordance with Section 609.1 of the
Planning Code.
(2)
The City may institute a municipal curative amendment in accordance
with Section 609.2 of the Planning Code (53 P.S. § 10609.2).
