The Zoning Officer shall meet qualifications established by
the Township Council and shall be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction
of the Township Council a working knowledge of municipal zoning. He
shall be appointed by Township Council and shall not hold any elected
office in the municipality.
A. The Zoning Officer shall administer and enforce this chapter in accordance
with its literal terms, and shall not have the power to permit construction
or any use or change of use which does not conform to the Zoning Ordinance.
B. If the Zoning Officer shall find that any provisions of this chapter
are being violated, he shall notify the owner of the property upon
which such alleged violation is occurring by certified mail, return
receipt, with a copy to tenants occupying the property, if any, such
notice being deemed adequate even if persons other than the owner
are perpetrating the alleged violation.
C. Communications regarding violations shall indicate the nature of
the violation and shall order the action necessary to correct it.
D. Such communications shall order the discontinuance of illegal uses
of land or alterations hereto, as well as any other action necessary
to assure compliance with or prevent violation of this chapter, and
shall indicate the owner's alternative actions under the terms
of this chapter.
E. Any apparent violation of the Zoning Ordinance observed by the Township
of Hampton officials shall initiate the following enforcement proceedings:
(1)
An enforcement notice shall be sent to the owner of record of
the parcel on which the violation has occurred, to any person who
has filed a written request to receive enforcement notices regarding
that parcel, and to any other person requested, in writing by the
owner of record.
(2)
The enforcement notice shall state at least the following:
(a)
The name of the owner of record and any other person against
whom the municipality intends to take action.
(b)
The location of the property in violation.
(c)
The specific violation with a description of the requirements
which have not been met, citing in each instance the applicable provisions
of this chapter.
(d)
The date before which the steps for compliance must be commenced
and the date before which the steps must be completed.
(e)
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 procedure set forth in this chapter.
(f)
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.
F. All questions of interpretations of this chapter shall be first presented
to the Zoning Officer and such questions shall be considered by the
Zoning Hearing Board only on appeal from the decision of the Zoning
Officer.
G. The Zoning Officer shall keep records of all applications either
approved or disapproved, including one copy of each permit issued,
shall maintain a journal of his activities and shall submit a report
annually to the Township Council.
H. The regulations of this article are not intended to supersede those
of the Township-enacted ICC Building Code, as amended, but are instead
designed to complement the Building Code. Where conflicts exist, the more stringent regulation shall
govern.
From and after the effective date hereof, any submission (zoning
application, subdivision plan, plat, site plan, request for conditional
use, planned residential development, or other submission) made by
a developer of land to the Township for approval, which submission
has previously obtained the approval of the Township Council (after
having been processed for review to and through the applicable agencies
of the Township, such as the Planning Commission, and the Environmental
Advisory Council, the Township Engineer and the Township Solicitor,
as well as the County Planning Agency), and which development has
not been constructed, implemented, or acted upon by the developer
or such developer's assignees, and/or which development plans
have not been recorded in the Offices of the County Real Estate Department,
as required by the Municipalities Planning Act, or which plat, subdivision
plan, site plan or such other submission has not been appropriately
recorded in any other office as required, may, if the time limits
for continuance of the same or completion of the same have expired,
be resubmitted directly to the Township Council for action to obtain
the necessary reapprovals (without the necessity of resubmitting the
same or recording of the same to the Planning Commission, Environmental
Advisory Council, the County Planning Agency, or any other applicable
agency or require any additional hearings upon the same), provided
that such submission or application for reapproval shall be submitted
to the Township Engineer for his review and approval shall:
A. Have been filed within one year from the date that the original submission
would or did expire;
B. The subdivision plan, site plan, or resubmission shall not have changed
in any respect, and that all of the lots, sites, structures, easements,
and other required data shown on such plan shall remain exactly the
same as the original submission;
C. No amendment has been made to Chapter
280, Subdivision and Land Development, this chapter, or other applicable ordinance of the Township, which would be applicable to the submission or development in question (unless the submission or application shall be protected by the provisions of Section 508 of the Municipalities Planning Act of Pennsylvania, Act 247 of 1968, as amended, or any other section of the Municipalities Planning Act
which may be applicable thereto), and the developer or applicant seeking
reapproval shall not be in default or shall not have breached any
developer's agreement entered into between the developer, or
applicant, and the Township;
D. No application or submission has been made to the Township of Hampton
for a different activity or type of development involving the same
land, since the date of the original approval for the land involved;
and
E. The developer or landowner submitting the application for reapproval
is able to demonstrate good cause why the approval had not been recorded
or acted upon by the developer or landowner within the appropriate
time period. The Township Council, may, in its discretion, after having
reviewed such submission for reapproval, approve the application or
submission and establish a new expiration date within which the reapproved
application must be recorded, or acted upon, or the Township Council
may deny the application for reapproval, and require the developer
or landowner to proceed anew following the entire review process required
for an original application.