Municipal Council shall appoint a Zoning Hearing Board consisting
of five members as provided for in the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code (53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.). All appointments
of members to said Board shall be subject to the approval and confirmation
of the Municipal Council by an affirmative vote of four members of
the Council. All approvals and confirmations of the Council's appointments
shall be by written resolution specifically identifying the initiation
and termination of the terms of office of each member so appointed.
The word "Board," when used in this article, shall mean the Zoning
Hearing Board.
The membership of the Board shall consist of five residents
of the Municipality. Their terms of office shall be five years and
shall be so fixed that the term of office of one member shall expire
each year at the end of the calendar year. Initiation of the terms
of office of the five-member Board shall be as provided in the Municipalities
Planning Code. The Board shall promptly notify the governing body
of any vacancies which occur. Appointments to fill vacancies shall
be only for the unexpired portion of the term. Members of the Board
shall hold no other office in the municipality.
Any Board member may be removed for malfeasance, misfeasance
or nonfeasance in office or for other just cause by a majority vote
of the Municipal Council which appointed the member, taken after the
member has received 15 days' advance notice of the intent to take
such a vote. A hearing shall be held in connection with the vote if
the member shall request it in writing.
The Board shall elect from its own membership its officers, who shall serve annual terms as such and may succeed themselves. For the conduct of any hearing and the taking of any action, a quorum shall be not less than a majority of all the members of the Board, but the Board may appoint a hearing officer from its own membership to conduct any hearing on its behalf, and the parties may waive further action by the Board as provided in §
320-355. The Board may take, alter and rescind rules and forms for its procedure consistent with the ordinances of the Municipality and the laws of the commonwealth. The Board shall keep full public records of its business and shall submit a report of its activities to the Municipal Council once a year.
Within the limits of funds appropriated by the governing body,
the Board may employ or contract for secretaries, clerks, legal counsel,
consultants and other technical and clerical services. Members of
the Board may receive compensation for the performance of their duties
as may be fixed by the Municipal Council, but in no case shall it
exceed the rate of compensation authorized to be paid to the members
of the Municipal Council.
The Board shall hear and decide appeals where it is alleged
by the appellant that the Zoning Officer has failed to follow prescribed
procedures or has misinterpreted or misapplied any provision of a
valid ordinance or map or any valid rule or regulation governing the
action of the Zoning Officer. Nothing contained herein shall be construed
to deny to the appellant the right to proceed directly in court, where
appropriate, pursuant to Pa.R.C.P., Sections 1091 to 1098, relating
to mandamus.
When the Municipal Council, in this chapter, has stated special exceptions to be granted or denied by the Board pursuant to express standards and criteria, the Board shall hear and decide requests for such special exceptions in accordance with such standards, criteria, and the general standards for review found in Article
XXI, Special Exceptions. In granting a special exception, the Board may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards in addition to those expressed in this chapter as it may deem necessary to implement the purposes of this chapter.
Appeals under §
320-356 and proceedings to challenge an ordinance under §
320-357 may be filed with the Board, in writing, by any officer or agency of the Municipal or any person aggrieved. Requests for a variance under §
320-357 and for a special exception under §
320-215 may be filed with the Board by any landowner or any tenant with the permission of such landowner.
Upon filing any proceeding referred to in §
320-359 and during its pendency before the Board, all land development pursuant to any challenged ordinance, order or approval of the Zoning Officer or of any agency or body and all official action thereunder shall be stayed unless the Zoning Officer or any other appropriate agency or body certifies to the Board facts indicating that such stay would cause imminent peril to life or property, in which case the development or official action shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order, which may be granted by the Board or by the court having jurisdiction of zoning appeals on petition after notice to the Zoning Officer or other appropriate agency or body. When an application for development, preliminary or final, has been duly approved and proceedings designed to reverse or limit the approval are filed with the Board by persons other than the applicant, the applicant may petition the court having jurisdiction of zoning appeals to order such persons to post bond as a condition to continuing the proceedings before the Board. The question of whether or not such petition should be granted and the amount of the bond shall be within the sound discretion of the court.