The Zoning Officer shall be appointed by the Board of Supervisors and shall hold no elective office in the Township. The Zoning Officer shall meet the qualifications established by the Township and shall be able to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Township, a working knowledge of municipal zoning. The duties of the Zoning Officer shall include the following:
A. 
Administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter.
B. 
Institute civil enforcement proceedings as a means of enforcement when acting within the scope of his employment.
C. 
Issue zoning certificates, building permits, certificates of occupancy and sign permits.
D. 
Maintain a permanent file of all zoning certificates, occupancy permits, sign permits, building permits and applications as public records.
E. 
Register and record nonconforming uses.
F. 
Inspect all land and structures for which a zoning certificate, building permit, occupancy permit or sign permit has been applied for or issued to determine compliance with this chapter and make all the inspections necessary to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
A. 
Enforcement notice. The enforcement notice shall contain the following information:
(1) 
The name of the owner of record and any other person against whom the municipality 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 this 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 a prescribed period of time in accordance with procedures set forth in this chapter. If the recipient of the notice of violation appeals sends notice to the Allegheny Township Zoning Hearing Board, he/she shall be required to pay an appeal fee, the amount of which will be set by a resolution of the Allegheny Township Board of Supervisors; and
(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. 
Enforcement remedies.
(1) 
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 Township, pay a judgment of not more than $500 plus all court costs, including reasonable attorney fees incurred by the Township 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 District Justice. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Township 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 District Justice, 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 District Justice, and thereafter each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation. All judgments, costs and reasonable attorney fees collected for the violation of this chapter shall be paid over to the Township.
(2) 
The Court of Common Pleas, upon petition, may grant an order of stay, upon cause shown, tolling the per diem fine pending a final adjudication of the violation and judgment.
(3) 
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed or interpreted to grant to any person or entity other than the Township the right to commence any action for enforcement pursuant to this subsection.
C. 
Other remedies. 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 Township Supervisors or, with the approval of the Township Supervisors, an officer of the Township, in addition to other remedies, may institute any appropriate action or proceeding to prevent, restrain, correct or abate such building, structure, landscaping or land to prevent, in or about such premises, any act, conduct, business or use constituting a violation.
A. 
Where a building permit is not required, a zoning certificate shall be obtained to verify compliance with this chapter for:
(1) 
The establishment of a principal use on any vacant lot or parcel, except for agricultural purposes.
(2) 
A change in the principal use of a structure, lot or parcel to a different use, except for agricultural purposes.
(3) 
Any change in nonconforming use.
(4) 
Construction of an accessory structure that does not exceed 500 square feet in the R1 Zoning District or 500 square feet in the R2 Zoning District.
(5) 
The commencement of oil and gas drilling activities in any zoning district.
(a) 
With the application, the applicant shall submit to the Zoning Officer the following:
[1] 
Permit(s) and notices required by the Pennsylvania Department of Environment Protection (PADEP) under the Oil and Gas Act and/or by any other state or federal agencies.
[2] 
Well location map.
[3] 
Road and other bonds required by the Allegheny Township Code, § 241-34, and/or the PADEP.
(b) 
At the conclusion of oil and gas drilling activities, the applicant shall provide the Township with documents showing that the wells have been plugged as required by the PADEP.
B. 
Any proposed use or expansion or change of an existing use which is authorized in a zoning district as a conditional use or use by special exception shall require approval of the conditional use or use by special exception in accordance with the procedures specified in § 250-108 of this chapter as a prerequisite to issuance of a zoning certificate by the Zoning Officer.
C. 
Where a building permit is not required by the Code of the Township, the zoning certificate shall authorize the occupancy of the structure, lot or parcel and the occupancy permit required by § 250-159 shall not be required.
A. 
No person or corporation shall be permitted to occupy any new or renovated vacant structure for which a building permit has been issued under the Code of the Township without securing an occupancy permit from the Township Zoning Officer.
B. 
Applications for said occupancy permit shall be made at the Township building and, upon the payment of the required fee established from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors and inspection of the premises by the Zoning Officer, said permit shall be issued if said premises meet all applicable requirements of this chapter.
The Board of Supervisors shall establish and revise, from time to time, a schedule of fees by resolution, as well as a collection procedure for all applications submitted under the provisions of this chapter. The schedule of fees shall be available to the public from the Zoning Officer or the Township Manager.
Any person or Township official aggrieved or affected by any provision of this chapter, or by any decision of the Zoning Officer, may appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board by filing a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof in accordance with the provisions of § 250-150 of this chapter.
In the event that Allegheny Township is required to retain the services of a professional consultant or engineer to review and report to the Township regarding land development plans, inspections or other work relating to such plans, the landowner will be required to pay a deposit that will be held in escrow by the Township for paying such services. Such review and inspection fees shall be reasonable in accordance with the ordinary and customary charges by the professional consultant or engineer for similar service in the community, and the amount of the deposit shall be set by resolution. Review and inspection fees shall be imposed in accordance with Sections 503 and 510(g) of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.[1] Any balance of the aforementioned deposit will be returned to the landowner upon full payment by the landowner of the invoices submitted by the professional consultants.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. §§ 10503 and 10501(g).