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 Official Zoning Map. When doing so, the Board of Supervisors shall proceed in the manner prescribed in this Part
13.
A curative amendment may be initiated by either a landowner
or by the Board of Supervisors.
A. Procedure for landowner curative amendments.
(1)
A landowner who desires to challenge on substantive grounds the validity of a zoning ordinance or map or any provision thereof, which prohibits or restricts the use or development of land in which he has an interest may submit a curative amendment to the Board of Supervisors with a written request that his challenge and proposed amendment be heard and decided as provided in this Part
13 and §
270-231.
(2)
The Board of Supervisors shall commence a hearing thereon within 60 days of the request as provided in this Part
13 and §
270-231. The curative amendment and challenge shall be referred to the Township and County Planning Commissions as provided in §
270-240A and notice of the hearing thereon shall be given as provided in §§
270-231 and
270-240B.
(3)
The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with §
270-229, and all references therein to the Zoning Hearing Board shall, for the purposes of this section, be referred to the Board of Supervisors. If the Board of Supervisors does not accept a landowner's curative amendment brought in accordance with this section 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 map, but only for those provisions which specifically relate to the landowner's curative amendment and challenge.
(4)
If the Board of Supervisors determines that a validity challenge
has merit, the Board of Supervisors may accept a landowner's curative
amendment, with or without revision, or may adopt an alternative amendment
that will cure the alleged 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 the ordinance or 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.
B. Procedure for municipal curative amendments.
(1)
If the Board of Supervisors determines that this chapter or
any portion thereof is substantially invalid, the Board of Supervisors
shall declare, by formal action, this chapter or portions hereof substantively
invalid and propose to prepare a curative amendment to overcome such
invalidity. Within 30 days following such declaration and proposal,
the Board of Supervisors shall:
(a)
By resolution make specific findings setting forth the declared
invalidity of this chapter which may include:
[1]
References to specific uses which are either not permitted or
not permitted in sufficient quantity;
[2]
Reference to a class of use or uses which require revision;
or
[3]
Reference to the entire ordinance which requires revisions.
(b)
Begin to prepare and consider a curative amendment to this chapter
to correct the declared invalidity.
(2)
Within 180 days from the date of the declaration and proposal,
the Board of Supervisors shall enact a curative amendment to validate,
or reaffirm the validity of this chapter.
(3)
Upon initiation of the procedures as set forth in Subsection
B(1), the Board of Supervisors shall not be required to entertain or consider any landowner's curative amendment filed under Subsection
A, nor shall the Zoning Hearing Board be required to give a report requested under §
270-231 subsequent to the declaration and proposal based upon the grounds identical to or substantially similar to those specified in the resolution required by Subsection
B(1)(a). Upon completion of the procedures as set forth in Subsection
B(1) and
(2), no rights to a cure shall, from the date of declaration and proposal, accrue to any landowner on the basis of the substantive invalidity of the unamended zoning ordinance for which there has been a curative amendment pursuant to this Part
13.
(4)
The Board of Supervisors having utilized the procedures as set forth in Subsection
B(1) and
(2) may not again utilize said procedure for a thirty-six-month period following the date of the enactment of a curative amendment, or reaffirmation of the validity of this chapter, pursuant to Subsection
B(2); provided, however, if after the date of declaration and proposal there is a substantially new duty or obligation imposed upon the Township by virtue of a change in statute or by virtue of a Pennsylvania Appellate Court decision, the Township may utilize the provisions of this subsection to prepare a curative amendment to this chapter to fulfill said duty or obligation.