The Zoning Hearing Board shall carry out the functions and procedures established for the operation of a Zoning Hearing Board, hereafter called the "Board," as described in this section and in accordance with §
310-77D and Article 9 of the Municipalities Planning Code.
The Board shall conduct hearings and make decisions in accordance
with the following:
A. The Board shall call and hold a public hearing within 60 days of
receiving an application of appeal, requesting a hearing, accompanied
by the required filing fee. Each subsequent hearing may be held within
45 days of the prior hearing, and all hearings shall be completed
within 100 days after the applicant completes its case in chief unless
extended by application to the Court of Common Pleas. Two notices
shall be placed in the classified section of a newspaper of general
local circulation once in each of two consecutive weeks, the first
publication appearing not more than 30 days and the second publication
not less than seven days prior to the hearing. In addition, written
notice of said hearing shall be conspicuously posted on the affected
tract of land at least one week prior to the hearing. Notices shall
indicate the date, time, and place of the hearing and the particular
nature of the matter to be considered, as well as the street address
of the specific property involved. All property owners within 300
feet of the property involved shall be notified by letter at least
seven days before the hearing.
B. The parties to the hearing shall be the applicant, the municipality,
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 require all persons who wish to be considered parties
to enter an appearance and all those parties giving testimony or presenting
evidence shall be sworn in.
C. The Chairman of the Board, or the Hearing Officer, shall conduct
the hearing and shall have the power to administer oaths and issue
subpoenas to compel attendance of witnesses and/or the production
of documents and papers, including witnesses and documents requested
by the parties. The parties in a hearing shall have the right to be
represented by counsel and shall be afforded the opportunity to respond,
present evidence and cross-examine adverse witnesses on all relevant
issues. Formal rules of evidence shall not apply, but irrelevant or
redundant evidence may be excluded.
D. The Board, or the Hearing Officer (if he is conducting the hearings),
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 the Hearing Officer,
or shall be paid by the person appealing from the decision of the
Board if such an 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. The Board, or the Hearing Officer, shall
not communicate, directly or indirectly, with any party, and/or representatives
of any party in connection with any issue relevant to the hearing,
except upon notice and opportunity for all parties to participate;
shall not take notice of any communications, reports or other materials,
except advice from the Board legal counsel, unless all parties are
afforded an opportunity to contest the material so noticed; and shall
not inspect any site or its surroundings with any party and/or representative
of any party after the start of hearings unless all parties are given
an opportunity to be present.
E. The Board, or Hearing Officer, shall render a written decision, or,
when no decision is required, a written finding on the application
within 45 days after the conclusions of the hearing before the Board
or Hearing Officer. Decisions shall be based on findings of fact and
conclusions based on them, together with the reasons therefor. Conclusions
based on any provisions of this chapter or any other ordinance or
regulation of the municipality shall contain a reference to the provisions
relied on and the reasons why the conclusion is deemed appropriate
in the light of the facts. All hearings shall be conducted in accordance
with Section 908 of the Municipalities Planning Code.
F. If the hearing is conducted by a Hearing Officer, and there has been no stipulation that his/her decision or findings are final, the Board shall make the Hearing Officer's 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 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. 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 herein above provided, the Board shall give public notice of said decision within 10 days from the last day it could have to render a decision in the same as provided in Subsection
E of this section.
G. 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.
H. A developer whose project has been approved, at either the preliminary
or final level, but who is forced to suspend the project as the result
of an appeal brought by a third party, may petition the Court to require
the appealing party to post a bond as a condition of continuing the
appeal, the amount to be determined by the Court. The Court shall
hear the petition, determine whether the appeal is frivolous, and
if so, may require the posting of the bond. Any appeals to the decision
of the Zoning Hearing Board shall be conducted in accordance with
the appeals procedure set out in the Municipalities Planning Code.
I. A copy of the final decision, or the findings, if no decision is
required, shall be mailed to the applicant not later than the day
after the date of the decision. All others requesting notice of the
decision not later than the last day of the hearing shall receive
by mail a summary of the findings or decision and a statement of the
place at which the full decision or findings may be examined.