The Zoning Hearing Board (hereinafter referred
to as "Board") created and existing under preexisting ordinances of
the Township shall continue under and in accordance with the provisions
of this chapter. Matters pending before the Board at the time this
chapter becomes effective shall continue and be completed under the
zoning ordinance in effect at the time the Board took jurisdiction
of said matters.
Any member may be removed for malfeasance, misfeasance
or nonfeasance in office or for other just cause by majority vote
of the Commissioners taken after the member has received 15 days advanced
written notice of the intent to take such vote. A public hearing shall
be held in connection with the Commissioners' action if the member
shall request the same in writing.
Within the limits of funds appropriated by the Commissioners, the Board may utilize secretaries, clerks, legal counsel, consultants and other technical and clerical staff. Selection of all such counsel and consultants shall be made by the Commissioners. Members of the Board may receive compensation for the performance of their duties, as may be fixed by the Commissioners, but in no case shall it exceed the rate of compensation authorized by the provisions of the Municipalities Planning Code. Alternate members of the Board may receive compensation, as may be fixed by the Commissioners, for the performance of their duties when designated as alternate members pursuant to §
27-36B, but in no case shall such compensation exceed the rate of compensation authorized by the provisions of the Municipalities Planning Code.
Every application for a variance, special exception,
mediation, interpretation or appeal of a ruling of the Zoning Officer
shall be made on a form prepared by the Zoning Hearing Board. Such
application shall be filed with the Board and shall include a statement
by the applicant regarding the reasons for the application. Each application
to the Board shall be subject to a fee fixed by the Commissioners.
An application is not complete until the required fee is paid in full
and the appropriate number and type of plans are submitted therewith.
The Board shall conduct hearings and make decisions
in accordance with the following requirements:
A. The Board shall give public notice of all matters
to be heard at any given meeting and shall give written notice to
the owner, appellant, the Commissioners, Planning Commission, to the
governing body of any municipality located within 500 feet of the
property at issue and to all other interested parties who have registered
their names and addresses with the Board. The notices herein required
shall state the location of the building or lot, the general nature
of the question involved and the time and place of the hearing. In
addition to the notices provided herein, written notice of said hearing
shall be conspicuously posted on the affected tract of land, building
or sign at least one week prior to the hearing.
B. The Commissioners may prescribe reasonable fees with
respect to hearings before the Zoning Hearing 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 hearings. The costs, however, shall not
include legal expenses of the Zoning Hearing Board, expenses for engineering,
architectural or other technical consultants or expert witness costs.
C. The hearing shall be held within 60 days from the
date of the applicant's request, unless the applicant has agreed in
writing to an extension of time.
D. The hearing 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 the applicant, as the case may be,
in addition to the Township, may, prior to the decision of the hearing,
waive the decision or findings by the Board and accept the decision
or findings of the hearing officer as final.
E. The parties to the hearing shall be the applicant,
the Township, any person affected by the application who has made
a timely appearance of record before the Board, and any other person
including duly constituted 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.
F. 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.
G. The parties shall have the right to be represented
by counsel and shall be afforded the opportunity to present evidence
and argument and to cross-examine adverse witnesses on all relevant
issues.
H. Formal rules of evidence shall not apply, but irrelevant,
immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded.
I. 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.
J. The Board or the Hearing Officer, as the case may
be, 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 their solicitor, unless all 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.
K. 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 act 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 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 recommendations thereon to the Board prior to final decision or entry of findings. The Board's decision shall be entered no later than 30 days after the report of the Hearing Officer. Where the Board fails to render the decision within the period required by this subsection, or fails to hold the required hearing within 60 days from the date of the applicant's request for a hearing, 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 rendered a decision in the same manner as provided in Subsection
A. If the Board shall fail to provide such notice, the applicant may do so. Nothing in this subsection shall prejudice the right of any party opposing the application to appeal the decision to a court of competent jurisdiction.
L. 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 names and addresses with
the Board not later than the last day of the hearing, the Board shall
provide, by mail or otherwise, a brief notice of the decision or findings
and a statement of the place at which the full decision or findings
may be examined.
Where this chapter permits, special exceptions may be granted or denied by the Board pursuant to the provisions of §
27-45. In granting a special exception, the Board shall consider the recommendations, if any, of the Planning Commission and Zoning Officer and may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards, in addition to those expressed by this chapter, as it may deem necessary to implement the purposes of this chapter and the laws of the Commonwealth.
No person shall be permitted to reapply to the
Zoning Hearing Board or Commissioners for any variance, interpretation,
special exception or conditional use on the same factual circumstances
and seeking the same or similar relief previously requested until
the expiration of 12 months from the date of the determination on
the original or last application. Reapplications may be permitted
upon a showing of changed circumstances but only with the unanimous
consent of the Zoning Hearing Board or Commissioners.
Appeals under §
27-41A(1),
(2),
(3),
(4),
(7),
(8) and
(9) may be filed with the Zoning Hearing Board in writing by the landowner affected, any officer or agency of the Township, or any person aggrieved. Requests for a variance under §
27-42 and for special exception under §
27-43 may be filed with the Zoning Hearing Board by any landowner, equitable landowner or any tenant with the permission of such landowner.
In order not to unreasonably delay the time when a landowner may secure assurance that the ordinance or map under which he proposed to build is free from challenge, and recognizing that the procedure for preliminary approval of his development may be too cumbersome or may be unavailable, the landowner may advance the date from which time for any challenge to the ordinance or map will run under §
27-48 by the following procedure:
A. The landowner may submit plans and other materials
describing his proposed use or development to the Zoning Officer for
a preliminary opinion as to their compliance with the applicable ordinances
and maps. Such plans and other materials shall not be required to
meet the standards prescribed for preliminary, tentative or final
approval or for the issuance of a building permit so long as they
provide reasonable notice of the proposed use or development and a
sufficient basis for a preliminary opinion as to its compliance.
B. If the Zoning Officer's preliminary opinion is that the use or development complies with the ordinance or map, notice thereof shall be published once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township. Such notice shall include a general description of the proposed use or development and its location, by some readily identifiable directive and the place and times where the plans and other materials may be examined by the public. The favorable preliminary approval under §
27-48 and the time therein specified for commencing a proceeding with the Board shall run from the time when the second notice thereof has been published.