For the administration of this chapter a Zoning Officer and
any duly authorized assistant(s) (who shall be referred to collectively
hereafter as "the Zoning Officer"), who may not hold any elective
office in the Township, shall be appointed by the Board of Supervisors.
The Zoning Officer shall administer this chapter in accordance with
its literal terms. The Zoning Officer shall issue all permits required
by this chapter but he/she shall not have the power to permit any
construction or any use or change of use which does not conform to
this chapter and other applicable Township codes and ordinances.
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 any Township ordinance, the Board
of Supervisors or, with the approval of the Board of Supervisors,
an officer of the municipality, 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 Township at least 30 days prior to the time the action is begun
by serving a copy of the complaint on the Board of Supervisors. No
such action may be maintained until such notice has been given.
The Board of Supervisors may, from time to time,
amend, supplement, change, modify or repeal this chapter or any part
of this chapter, including the Zoning Map. When doing so, the Board
of Supervisors shall proceed in the manner prescribed in this article.
[Amended 12-9-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-6]
A. Amendments generally. The Board of Supervisors may, from time to
time amend, supplement or repeal any of the regulations and provisions
in this chapter, as provided below. Such action may be taken after
application by a landowner or upon recommendation by the Township
Planning Commission.
(1) Landowner application. All applications by landowners for zoning
amendments or Zoning Map amendments, not curative in nature, shall
be submitted to the Township Zoning Officer not later than the last
working day of the month preceding the Board of Supervisors meeting
at which the application will be initially presented.
(a)
Fees. A landowner application for amendment shall not be considered
complete unless accompanied by a fee in such amount as fixed by resolution
of the Board of Supervisors from time to time. Such fee shall be applied
to the Township's actual costs, including attorney, engineering, and
advertising fees, to review and/or take action on the requested zoning
amendment. The Township reserves the right to require an escrow for
additional fees if such costs are greater than the fee initially paid.
Unused fees shall be returned to the landowner upon the dismissal
or enactment of the amendment requested.
(b)
Initial meeting. The regularly scheduled meetings of the Board
of Supervisors are hereby established as the initial meetings at which
landowner applications shall be considered by the Board of Supervisors.
Upon receipt of a complete application, the Board of Supervisors shall
consider the application at the following regularly scheduled meeting.
If for any reason the Board of Supervisors does not meet at such regularly
scheduled meeting, the Board of Supervisors shall consider the application
at the subsequent regularly scheduled meeting. The action of the Board
of Supervisors at the initial meeting shall be limited to either accepting
or rejecting the application. If the application is accepted, it shall
be referred to the Township Planning Commission for a report and recommendation
as provided in this section. If the petition is rejected, the landowner
who filed the application shall be so notified, in writing, and the
filing fee shall be refunded.
(2) Public hearing. Prior to enacting any proposed zoning amendment,
the Board of Supervisors shall fix a time and place for a public hearing
at which parties of interest and residents shall have an opportunity
to be heard, pursuant to public notice as provided herein. No time
limit shall apply to the scheduling of such public hearing, or the
occurrence of the public hearing, or to formal action of the amendment.
(3) Township Planning Commission. In the case of an amendment other than
that prepared by the Township Planning Commission, the Board of Supervisors
shall submit each amendment to the Township Planning Commission at
least 30 days prior to the public hearing on such proposed amendment
to provide the Township Planning Commission an opportunity to submit
recommendations. In the case of an amendment prepared by the Township
Planning Commission, the proposal shall be presented to the Board
of Supervisors, which shall then proceed in the same manner as with
a proposed zoning amendment which has already been reviewed by the
Township Planning Commission.
(4) County Planning Commission. At least 30 days prior to the public
hearing on any amendment by the Board of Supervisors, the Township
shall submit the proposed amendment to the County Planning Commission
for recommendations.
(5) Notice of public hearing.
(a)
Notice of the time and place of such public hearing and a description
of the amendment to be discussed shall be published once each week
for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within
the Township; the first publication shall not be more than 60 days
and the second publication shall not be less than seven days from
the date of the hearing.
(b)
If the proposed amendment involves a Zoning Map change, notice
of the required hearing shall be conspicuously posted by the Township
along the perimeter of the parcel to notify potentially interested
citizens. The affected parcel or area shall be posted at least one
week prior to the date of the hearing. Additionally, notice of the
public hearing for a Zoning Map change shall be mailed by the Township
at least 30 days prior to the date of the public hearing, by first
class mail, to the addresses to which real estate tax bills are sent
for all real property located within the area being rezoned, as evidenced
by tax records within the possession of the Township. The notice shall
include the location, date and time of the public hearing. A good
faith effort and substantial compliance shall satisfy the requirements
of this subsection. This clause shall not apply when the rezoning
constitutes a comprehensive rezoning.
(6) Substantial change to amendment. If after any public hearing held
upon a Zoning Map amendment, the proposed amendment is changed substantially,
or is revised, to include land previously not affected by it, the
Board of Supervisors shall hold another public hearing, pursuant to
public notice, before proceeding to enact the amendment.
(7) Action by the Board of Supervisors. At the time and place specified,
the Board of Supervisors shall conduct a hearing on said application
to amend the zoning ordinance or Zoning Map of the Township and shall
thereafter, at a subsequent regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors,
either reject the proposed change or adopt an ordinance implementing
the proposed change.
(8) Within 30 days after enactment of any amendment to this chapter,
a copy of the amendment shall be forwarded to the County Planning
Commission.
B. Curative amendments by landowner. 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 petition
for curative amendment to the Board of Supervisors with a written
request that his challenge and proposed amendment be heard and decided
as provided in § 916.1 of the MPC. The petition for curative amendment and challenge shall be referred to the Township Planning Commission and the County Planning Commission as provided in Subsection
A of this section and § 609 of the MPC, and notice of the hearing thereon shall be given as provided in Subsection
A of this section and §§ 610 and 916.1 of the MPC.
(1) Petition and fee. No petition shall be accepted by the Zoning Officer which is not (i) complete on its face, containing all of the information and data required by the Zoning Officer to reasonably support the petition and signed by at least one record owner of property which would be affected by the proposed amendment; and (ii) accompanied by the fee provided in §
255-81A(1)(a) above. Upon receipt of a complete petition and payment of the fee, the Township shall cause the petition to be forwarded to the Township Planning Commission and the County Planning Commission.
(2) Public hearing. The Board of Supervisors shall hold a public hearing within 60 days of the request, and such hearing shall be conducted in accordance with §
255-85 of the Code and § 908 of the MPC, and all references therein to the Zoning Hearing Board
shall, for purposes of this section, be references to the Board of
Supervisors. If the Township does not accept a landowner's curative
amendment brought in accordance with this subsection and a court subsequently
rules that the challenge has merit, the court's decision shall not
result in a declaration of invalidity for this entire chapter and
Zoning Map, but only for those provisions that specifically relate
to the landowner's curative amendment and challenge.
(3) Acceptance. The Board of Supervisors, if it determines that a validity
challenge has merit, may accept a landowner's curative amendment,
with or without revision, or may adopt an alternative amendment, which
will cure the challenged defects. The Board of Supervisors shall consider
the curative amendments, plans and explanatory material submitted
by the landowner and shall also consider:
(a)
The impact of the proposal upon roads, sewer facilities, water
supplies, schools and other public service facilities.
(b)
If the proposal is for a residential use, the impact of the
proposal upon regional housing needs and the effectiveness of the
proposal in providing housing units of a type actually available to
and affordable by classes of persons otherwise unlawfully excluded
by the challenged provisions of this chapter or Zoning Map.
(c)
The suitability of the site for the intensity of use proposed
by the site's soils, slopes, woodlands, wetlands, floodplains, aquifers,
natural resources and other natural features.
(d)
The impact of the proposed use on the site's soils, slopes,
woodlands, wetlands, floodplains, natural resources and natural features,
the degree to which these are protected or destroyed, the tolerance
of the resources to development and any adverse environmental impacts.
(e)
The impact of the proposal on the preservation of agriculture
and other land uses which are essential to public health and welfare.
C. Curative amendments by Township.
(1) If the Township determines that this chapter or any portion hereof
is substantially invalid, the Township shall declare, by formal action,
this chapter or portions hereof substantially invalid and propose
to prepare a curative amendment to overcome such invalidity. Within
30 days of such declaration and proposal, the Board of Supervisors
shall, by resolution, make specific findings setting forth the declared
invalidity of this chapter, which may include the below listed invalidities,
and begin to prepare and consider a curative amendment to this chapter
to correct the declared invalidity(ies).
(a)
References to specific uses which are either not permitted or
not permitted in sufficient quantity.
(b)
Reference to a class of use or uses that requires revision.
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(c)
Reference to this entire chapter that requires revisions.
(2) Within 180 days from the date of the declaration and proposal, the
Township shall enact a curative amendment to validate or reaffirm
the validity of this chapter pursuant to the provisions of § 609
of the MPC, in order to cure the declared invalidity of this chapter.