[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Bear Creek
Township 8-1-1995 by Ord. No. 1-95. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Pursuant to the provisions contained in Act 247, the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code,[1] and in order to carry said provisions into effect, there
is hereby created a Township Planning Commission.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
The Township Planning Commission shall consist of five members
who shall be appointed by the Board of Supervisors and shall serve
without compensation but may be reimbursed for necessary expenses.
The original members of the Planning Commission shall be appointed
on a staggered basis for terms of one, two, three and four years,
and each succeeding term shall be for a term of four years. An appointment
to fill a vacancy shall be only for the unexpired portion of the term.
The Board of Supervisors may, after a public hearing, remove any members
of the Planning Commission for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance
in office.
The Township Planning Commission shall elect its own Chairman
and create and fill such other offices as it may determine. The Commission
may make and alter rules for its procedure consistent with the ordinances
of the Township and the laws of the commonwealth. It shall keep a
record of its resolutions, transactions, findings and determinations,
which record shall be a public record.
The Board of Supervisors creating a Planning Commission shall
appropriate from the general Township fund, in the same manner as
other appropriations are made, such money as, in its opinion, is necessary
and is available for the work of the Planning Commission for the year
in which the appropriation is made.
The Planning Commission may appoint such employees and staff
as it may deem necessary for its work, and may contract with planners
and other consultants for such technical services as it may require.
As an aid to coordination of municipal planning and with the
consent of the Township supervisors, the Planning Commission may enter
into joint agreements with county, regional or other planning agencies,
covering cooperative financing of planning, studies and such other
cooperative relationships as are necessary to attain the objectives
of this chapter.
These and such other expenditures as may be necessary and proper
shall be within the amount appropriated for the purpose by the Board
of Township Supervisors or placed at the Commission's disposal
from other sources.
The Planning Commission shall prepare and adopt a plan of development
for the Township. The plan, with accompanying maps, charts, drawings
and descriptive matter, shall show the Commission's recommendation
for the development of the Township.
The Board of Supervisors may establish as the Official Map of
the Township any part of the development plan with respect to the
location and width of streets, highways and parkways and the location
and extent of public parks and playgrounds.
The Planning Commission shall serve as the Zoning Commission
and shall, in pursuance of its duties, prepare or cause to be prepared
a Zoning Ordinance for the Township.
