[Ord. 1159, 9/11/2014]
1. 
Creation of Board.
A. 
The Borough Council shall appoint a Zoning Hearing Board, herein referred to as the "Board," consisting of residents of the Borough appointed by the Borough Council pursuant to the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended, who shall be appointed and serve and shall perform all the duties and have all the powers as prescribed by said code and as herein provided.
B. 
The Borough Council may appoint alternate members of the Board pursuant to the provisions of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended. The alternate members may serve as provided for in said code.
2. 
Organization. The Board may promulgate such rules and forms for its procedures, not inconsistent with this chapter and other ordinances of the Borough and laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as it may deem necessary for the proper performance of its duties and for the proper exercise of its powers. Such rules shall be continued in force and effect until amended or repealed by the Board or by law. The Board shall elect from its own membership its officers, who shall serve annual terms as such and may succeed themselves.
3. 
Meetings. Meetings and hearings of the Board shall be held at the call of the Chairman and at such other times as the Board, by majority vote, may determine.
4. 
Minutes and Records. The Board shall keep full public records of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact. The Board shall also keep full public records of its business and other official action, copies of which shall be filed with the Borough Secretary. Such records shall be the property of the Borough. The Board shall submit a monthly report of its activities to the Borough Council.
[Ord. 1159, 9/11/2014]
1. 
The Board shall conduct public hearings and make decisions in accordance with the following requirements:
A. 
Public notice, as defined by law, shall be given and written notice shall be given to the public, the applicant, the Zoning Officer, such other persons as the Borough Council shall designate by ordinance and to any person who has made timely request for the same. Written 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 Board. In addition to the written notice provided herein, written notice of said hearing shall be conspicuously posted on the affected tract of land at least one week prior to the hearing.
(1) 
The Borough Council may prescribe reasonable fees with respect to hearings before the Board. Fees for said hearings may include compensation for the Secretary and members of the Board, notice and advertising costs and necessary administrative overhead connected with the hearing. The costs, however, shall not include legal expenses of the Board, expenses for engineering, architectural or other technical consultants or expert witness costs.
(2) 
The first hearing before the Board or hearing officer shall be commenced within 60 days from the date of receipt of the applicant's application, unless the applicant has agreed, in writing, to an extension of time. Each subsequent hearing before the Board or hearing officer shall be held within 45 days of the prior hearing, unless otherwise agreed to by the applicant in writing or on the record. An applicant shall complete the presentation of his case-in-chief within 100 days of the first hearing. Upon the request of the applicant, the Board or hearing officer shall assure that the applicant receives at least seven hours of hearings within the 100 days, including the first hearing. Persons opposed to the application shall complete the presentation of their opposition to the application within 100 days of the first hearing held after the completion of the applicant's case-in-chief. An applicant may, upon request, be granted additional hearings to complete his case-in-chief, provided the persons opposed to the application are granted an equal number of additional hearings. Persons opposed to the application may, upon the written consent or consent on the record by the applicant and municipality, be granted additional hearings to complete their opposition to the application, provided the applicant is granted an equal number of additional hearings for rebuttal.
B. 
The hearings shall be conducted by the Board, or the 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 Board; however, the appellant or applicant, as the case may be, in addition to the Borough, may, prior to the decision of the hearing, waive decision or findings by the Board and accept the decision or findings of the hearing officer as final.
C. 
The parties to the hearing shall be the Borough, 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 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.
D. 
The Chairman or Acting Chairman of the 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 Board or the hearing officer, as the case may be, shall keep a stenographic record of the proceedings. The appearance fee for a stenographer shall be shared equally by the applicant and the Board. The cost of the original transcript shall be paid by the Board if the transcript is ordered by the Board or hearing officer or shall be paid by the person appealing from the decision of the Board if such appeal is made, and in either event the cost of additional copies shall be paid by the person requesting such copy or copies. In other cases, the party requesting the original transcript shall bear the cost thereof.
H. 
The 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, except advice from its solicitor, unless the parties are afforded an opportunity to contest the material so noticed, and shall not inspect the site or its surroundings after the commencement of hearings with any party or his representative unless all parties are given an opportunity to be present.
I. 
The 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 Board or hearing officer. Where the application is contested or denied, each decision shall be accompanied by findings of fact and conclusions based thereon, together with the reasons therefor. Conclusions based on any provisions of this chapter 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 facts found. If the hearing is conducted by a hearing officer, and there has been no stipulation that his decision or findings are final, the Board shall make his report and recommendations available to the parties within 45 days, and the parties shall be entitled to make written representations thereon to the Board prior to the final decision or entry of findings, and the Board's decision shall be entered no later than 30 days after the report of the hearing officer. Except for challenges filed under Section 916.1 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, where the Board fails to render the decision within the period required by this subsection or fails to commence, conduct or complete the required hearing as provided in § 27-901, Subsection 1B, of this chapter, the decision shall be deemed to have been rendered in favor of the applicant, unless the applicant has agreed, in writing or on the record, to an extension of time. When a decision has been rendered in favor of the applicant because of the failure of the Board to meet or render a decision as hereinabove provided, the Board shall give public notice of said decision within 10 days from the last day it could have met to render a decision in the same manner as provided in § 27-901, Subsection 1A, of this chapter. If the Board shall fail to provide such notice, the applicant may do so. Nothing in the subsection shall prejudice the right of any party opposing the application to appeal the decision to a court of competent jurisdiction.
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 Board not later than the last day of the hearing, the 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.
[Ord. 1159, 9/11/2014]
1. 
The Zoning Hearing Board shall have the functions authorized in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended.
2. 
The jurisdictions of the Zoning Hearing Board and the Borough Council, and the procedures to be followed by each, shall be as established in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended.
3. 
Parties to proceedings before the Zoning Hearing Board authorized by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended, may utilize mediation as an aid in completing such proceedings. The mediation option shall meet the stipulations and follow the procedures set forth in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
4. 
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 Board may, by rule, prescribe the form of application and may require preliminary application to the Zoning Officer. The Board may grant a variance, provided that all of the following findings are made where relevant in a given case:
A. 
That 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 circumstances or conditions generally created by the provisions of this chapter in the neighborhood in which the property is located;
B. 
That, 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;
C. 
That such unnecessary hardship has not been created by the appellant;
D. 
That the variance, if authorized, will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood or district in which the property is located, nor substantially or permanently impair the appropriate use or development of adjacent property, nor be detrimental to the public welfare;
E. 
That the variance as granted by the Board is the minimum variance that will afford relief and will represent the least modification possible of the regulation in issue;
F. 
Such other considerations as may be set forth in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended, from time to time.
5. 
Special Exceptions.
A. 
The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear and decide requests for special exceptions in accordance with the standards and criteria as allowed in this chapter and in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. In granting a special exception, the 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 the Pennsylvania Municipalities Code and this chapter.
B. 
The applicant for a special exception shall demonstrate, as a condition to approval of his application, compliance with the following criteria and those criteria specified elsewhere in this chapter for the use in question:
(1) 
Such use shall be one which is specifically authorized as a special exception use in the zoning district where the applicant seeks a special exception.
(2) 
Such special exception shall only be granted subject to any applicable condition and safeguards as required by this chapter.
(3) 
Such use shall not adversely affect the character of the general neighborhood, nor the conservation of property values, nor the health and safety of residents or workers on adjacent properties and in the general neighborhood, nor the reasonable use of neighboring properties. The use of adjacent properties shall be adequately safeguarded.
(4) 
Such use shall be of such size and so located and laid out in relation to its access streets that vehicular and pedestrian traffic to and from such use will not create undue congestion or hazards prejudicial to the general neighborhood.
(5) 
Services and utilities, such as public water, sanitary sewers, and stormwater drainage, shall be made available by the applicant in order to adequately service the proposed use.
(6) 
There shall be control of development of highway frontage so as to limit the number of points for ingress and egress, consider their location with due regard to safety factors, and encourage, where practicable, frontage of buildings and structures upon parallel marginal roads or on roads perpendicular to the highway.
(7) 
Consideration shall be given to the desirability of the proposed location for an industrial or commercial use with respect to probable effects upon street or highway traffic and assurance of adequate access arrangements to protect against undue traffic congestion and hazard.
(8) 
Consideration shall be given to such other considerations as may be set forth in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended, from time to time.
C. 
In granting a special exception, the 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 and the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended, which conditions may include, but are not limited to, harmonious design of buildings, planting and maintenance of shrubbery or trees as a sight and/or sound barrier, and the minimizing of potentially noxious, offensive or hazardous elements.
6. 
The Zoning Hearing Board shall exercise any other power specifically granted to the Board under the terms of this chapter or the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended.
[Ord. 1159, 9/11/2014]
1. 
The Board shall act in accordance with the procedures specified by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended, and by this chapter. All appeals and applications made to the Board shall be in writing, on forms prescribed by the Board. Every appeal or application shall refer to the specific provision of this chapter involved and shall exactly set forth the interpretation that is claimed, the grounds for any challenges to the validity of this chapter, the use for which a special exception is sought, or the details of the variance that is applied for and the grounds on which it is claimed that the variance should be granted, as the case may be. All appeals and any stay of proceedings shall be in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended.
2. 
Applications and appeals, together with the required filing fee as established by the Borough Council, shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Zoning Hearing Board. As a minimum, all material required for a permit shall be submitted with the application. The applicant shall also submit a description of the operations proposed in sufficient detail to indicate the effects of those operations proposed in producing traffic congestion, noise, glare, water pollution, fire hazards, safety hazards or other potentially harmful activities.
[Ord. 1159, 9/11/2014]
Unless otherwise specified by the Board, a special exception or variance shall expire if the applicant fails to implement the proposed use or commence construction within 12 months from the date of authorization of the special exception or variance, unless an extension is granted by the Zoning Hearing Board.
[Ord. 1159, 9/11/2014]
The Secretary of the Zoning Hearing Board shall forward a copy of any application for a special exception or variance to the Borough Planning Commission and the Borough Council for review and comment prior to the hearing held by the Board on such application.