There shall be a Zoning Officer who shall be appointed by the
Borough Council and may not hold any elected office in the Borough.
The Zoning Officer's duties shall include but not be limited to the
following:
A. To enforce all provisions of this chapter and all amendments thereto.
B. To receive and examine all applications and permits required by this
chapter and issue permits only for any use which is addressed in this
chapter.
C. To refer applications for special exceptions to the Zoning Hearing
Board.
D. To issue permits for construction of structures or uses requiring
a special exception or variance only upon order of the Zoning Hearing
Board. Permits requiring approval by the Borough Council, such as
conditional use approval, shall be issued only after authorization
from the Borough Council.
E. To receive applications for interpretation appeals and variances
and forward these applications to the Zoning Hearing Board for action
thereon.
F. To conduct inspections and surveys to determine compliance or noncompliance
with the terms of this chapter.
G. To issue stop and cease-and-desist orders and order, in writing,
correction of all conditions found to be in violation of the provisions
of this chapter. Such written orders shall be served personally or
by certified mail upon persons, firms or corporations deemed by the
Zoning Officer to be violating the terms of this chapter. It shall
be unlawful for any person to violate any such order lawfully issued
by the Zoning Officer, and any person violating such order shall be
guilty of a violation of this chapter.
H. To keep an official record of all business and activities, including
complaints of a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter
and of the subsequent action taken on each such complaint.
I. To maintain or cause to have maintained a map or maps showing the
current zoning classification of all land in the Borough.
J. To approve a reasonable accommodation for handicapped persons pursuant
to the provisions of the Federal Fair Housing Act.
K. To issue use and occupancy permits in accordance with the terms of
this article.
L. To communicate as necessary with the Borough Department of Building,
Housing and Codes Enforcement and other Borough Departments to assure
all required permits and approvals have been obtained and all fees
have been paid prior to commencement of any use, land disturbance,
construction or activity regulated by this chapter.
It shall be unlawful for any person to use or occupy any building
or other structure or land until a certificate of occupancy has been
duly issued and, where applicable, a highway occupancy permit has
been issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
A use and occupancy permit shall be required prior to any of
the following:
A. Use and occupancy of any building or other structure hereafter erected
or altered for which a building permit is required.
B. Change in the use of any building or structure or any part thereof.
C. Use of land or change in the use thereof, except that the placing
of vacant land under cultivation shall not require a use and occupancy
permit.
D. Change in use or extension of a nonconforming use.
Any person who has violated or permitted the violation of the
provisions of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor
in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced hereunder, pay a judgment
of not more than $500, plus all court costs, including reasonable
attorney's fees incurred by the Borough as a result thereof. No judgment
shall commence or be imposed, levied or payable until the date of
the determination of a violation by the District Justice. In the event
that any such person against whom a judgment has been rendered by
the District Justice neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment,
the Borough may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable Pennsylvania
Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day that a violation continues shall
constitute a separate violation, unless the District Justice determining
that there has been a violation further determines that there was
a good faith basis for such person violating this chapter to have
believed that there was no such violation. In that latter event, there
shall be deemed to have been only one such violation until the fifth
day following the date of the determination of a violation by the
District Justice, and, thereafter, each day that a violation continues
shall constitute a separate violation. All judgments, costs and reasonable
attorney's fees collected for the violation of this chapter shall
be paid over to the Borough.
In case any building, sign or structure is erected, constructed,
reconstructed, altered, repaired, converted or maintained or any building,
sign, structure or land is used or any hedge, tree, shrub or other
growth is maintained in violation of this chapter or of any regulations
pursuant thereto, in addition to other remedies provided by law, any
appropriate action or proceeding, whether by legal process or otherwise,
may be instituted or taken to prevent such unlawful erection, construction,
reconstruction, alteration, repair, conversion, maintenance or use;
to restrain, correct or abate such violation; to prevent the occupancy
of said building, structure or land; or to prevent any illegal act,
conduct, business or use in or about such premises.