The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear and decide appeals pursuant
to the provisions of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code,
as amended, and shall have the following powers.
A. To hear and decide appeals.
(1) The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear and decide appeals from any order,
requirement, decision or determination made by the Zoning Officer
administering this chapter, including but not limited to the granting
or denial of any permit or failure to act on the application therefor,
the issuance of any cease and desist order or the registration or
refusal to register any nonconforming use, structure or lot.
(2) The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear and decide appeals from a determination of the Zoning Officer or Municipal Engineer in the administration of any land use ordinance or provision thereof with reference to sedimentation and erosion control and stormwater management insofar as the same relate to development not involving the provisions regulating subdivision or planned residential development contained in Articles
V and VII of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
(3) The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear and decide appeals from a determination
by the Zoning Officer or Municipal Engineer with reference to the
administration of any floodplain or flood hazard ordinance or such
provisions within a land use ordinance.
(4) The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear and decide upon appeals from
a determination of the Zoning Officer, any questions involving the
interpretation of any provision of this chapter, including determination
of the exact location of any district boundary where there is uncertainty
with respect thereto.
B. To hear and decide challenges to the validity of any land use ordinance.
(1) The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear and decide substantive challenges
to the validity of any land use ordinance, except those for landowner
curative amendments, which shall be brought before the governing body
pursuant to Sections 609.1 and 916.1(a)(2) of the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code, as amended.
(2) The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear and decide challenges to the
validity of any land use ordinance raising procedural questions or
alleged defects in the process of enactment or adoption. Such challenges
shall be raised by an appeal taken within 30 days after the effective
date of said ordinance.
C. To hear and decide requests for variances.
(1) The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear requests for variances and may
vary or adapt the strict application of any of the requirements of
this chapter in the case of exceptionally irregular, narrow or shallow
lots or other exceptional physical conditions whereby such strict
application would result in practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship
that would deprive the owner of the reasonable use of the land or
building involved but in no other case. The sole purpose of any variance
shall be to prevent discrimination, and no variance shall be granted
which would have the effect of granting a special privilege not shared
by other property owners in the same vicinity and district and under
the same conditions.
(2) The Board's decision to approve a variance request shall be made only after public notice and hearing. (See §
135-83.) (See also § 135-68 for additional information regarding variances in the floodplain districts and Appendix A for an illustration of the variance procedure.)
(3) No variance in the strict application of any provisions of this chapter
shall be granted by the Zoning Hearing Board unless it finds:
(a)
That there are unique physical circumstances or conditions,
including irregularity, narrowness or shallowness of lot size or shape
or exceptional topographical or other physical conditions, peculiar
to the particular property and that the unnecessary hardship is due
to such conditions and not the circumstances or conditions generally
created by the provisions of this chapter in the neighborhood or district
in which the property is located.
(b)
That because of such physical circumstances or conditions there
is no possibility that the property can be developed in strict conformity
with the provisions of this chapter and that the authorization of
a variance is therefor necessary to enable the reasonable use of the
property.
(c)
That such unnecessary hardship has not been created by the appellant.
(d)
That the variance, if authorized, will not alter the essential
character of the neighborhood or district in which the property is
located nor substantially or permanently impair the appropriate use
or development of adjacent property nor be detrimental to the public
welfare.
(e)
That the variance, if authorized, will represent the minimum
variance that will afford relief and will represent the least modification
possible of the regulation in issue.
(4) In granting any variance, the Zoning Hearing Board may attach such
reasonable conditions and safeguards as it may deem necessary to implement
the purposes of this chapter.
D. To hear and decide requests for special exceptions.
(1) The Zoning Hearing Board may grant special exceptions only for such uses as are provided for in Article
IV and Appendix D, District Regulations, or as otherwise set forth in this chapter, and pursuant to express standards and criteria outlined in the Scott Township Code of Ordinances. The Board's decision to approve a special exception shall be made only after public notice and hearing. (See §
135-83.) Such approval shall apply specifically to the application and plans submitted and presented at said public hearing. Any subsequent changes or additions shall be subject to further review and public hearing by the Zoning Hearing Board as a separate special exception use. (See § 135-69 for additional information regarding special exceptions in the floodplain districts and Appendix B for a chart illustrating the special exception procedure.)
(2) No application for a special exception shall be granted by the Zoning
Hearing Board until said Board has first received and considered an
advisory report thereon from the Township Planning Commission. Said
report shall review the proposal with respect to the location of such
use in relation to the needs and growth patterns of the area and,
where appropriate, the adequacy of the site area and arrangement of
buildings, driveways, parking areas, off-street loading spaces and
other pertinent features. The Planning Commission shall have 30 days
from the date of its receipt of the application from the Zoning Hearing
Board within which to file its report. In the event that the Commission
shall fail to file its report within 30 days, the application shall
be deemed to have been approved by the Planning Commission. The Commission
may have representation at the public hearing held by the Zoning Hearing
Board on such application.
(3) In reviewing requests for special exceptions, the Zoning Hearing Board shall take into account the comments received from the Township Planning Commission and the following requirements in addition to those found in Article
V and in other applicable sections of this chapter:
(a)
That the use is so designed, located and proposed to be operated
that the public health, safety, welfare and convenience will be protected.
(b)
That the use will not cause substantial injury to the value
of other property in the neighborhood where it is to be located.
(c)
That the use will be compatible with adjoining development and
the proposed character of the zoning district where it is to be located.
(d)
That adequate landscaping and screening is provided as required
herein.
(e)
That adequate off-street parking and loading is provided and
ingress and egress is designed to cause minimum interference with
traffic on abutting streets.
(f)
That the use conforms to all applicable regulations governing
the district where located, except as may otherwise be determined
for large-scale developments.
(4) In approving a special exception, the Zoning Hearing Board may attach
whatever reasonable conditions and safeguards it deems necessary in
order to ensure that the proposed development is consistent with the
purposes of this chapter.