[Amended 8-1-1994 by Ord. No. 455]
Upon receipt of a request or petition for an
amendment, supplement or repeal of this chapter, the Planning Commission
shall act as follows:
A. The Commission shall review the request or petition
and shall send its recommendation to accept, reject or modify the
proposal to the Borough Council within 40 days after the regular Commission
meeting following receipt of the proposal.
B. If the request originates in the Borough Council,
the Council shall submit the proposed amendment to the Planning Commission
at least 30 days prior to the public hearing on the amendment to provide
the Commission an opportunity to send recommendations to the Council.
[Amended 8-1-1994 by Ord. No. 455]
The Borough Council shall call and hold a public
hearing on the proposed amendment, supplement or repeal before taking
formal action to adopt or reject the proposal and, in addition, shall:
A. Give the County Planning Commission at least 30 days'
notice prior to the public hearing to submit recommendations on the
proposal.
B. Advertise for the public hearing (see the definition of "public notice" in §
195-7); send written notices at least 15 days before the hearing to the petitioner, if applicable, and to the owners of record of properties within 400 feet of exterior boundaries of the property or properties proposed to be rezoned, if applicable.
C. If the proposed amendment involves a change to the
Zoning Map, the affected property or properties shall be posted at
least seven days prior to the hearing with the same information in
the public notice.
[Amended 8-1-1994 by Ord. No. 455]
Before adopting any amendment, supplement or
repeal of this chapter, the Borough Council shall take the following
action:
A. Public notice of the Council's intent to enact the
amendment shall be published once in a newspaper of general local
circulation not less than seven days before the Council's action and
shall include the time and place of the meeting at which adoption
will be considered and a reference to a place where the amendment
may be examined without charge or obtained at cost.
B. The Borough Council shall publish the proposed amendment
once in a newspaper of general circulation in the Borough not more
than 60 days nor less than seven days before adoption. Either the
full text of the amendment or the title and a brief summary prepared
by the Borough Solicitor setting forth all the provisions in reasonable
detail shall be published. In the case of a map change, a description
of the boundary of the area to be rezoned indicating streets, properties
by lot and block numbers or owners and distances, if necessary, shall
suffice. If the full text is not published, a copy of the full text
shall be supplied to the newspaper carrying the notice and a copy
shall be filed in the County Law Library.
C. In the event that substantial changes are made to
an amendment, including any revisions to a rezoning boundary, the
Borough Council shall, at least 10 days before taking a vote to adopt
the amendment, readvertise once a brief summary of the amendment emphasizing
last-minute revisions.
D. Within 30 days after adoption, a copy of the amendment
shall be forwarded to the County Planning Commission.
If a petition for rezoning is denied by either
the Planning Commission or the Council, another petition for a change
to the same zone district shall not be filed within a period of one
year from the date of denial, except upon the initiation of the Council
or with the permission of or upon the initiation by the Planning Commission,
after a showing of a change of circumstances which would warrant a
rehearing.
[Added 8-1-1994 by Ord. No. 455]
A landowner who wishes to challenge on substantive
grounds the validity of any part of this chapter or the Zoning Map
which prohibits or restricts the use or development of land in which
he has an interest may submit a curative amendment to the Borough
Council with a written request that his challenge and proposed amendment
be heard and decided.
A. The Borough Council shall:
(1) Schedule and hold a public hearing, properly noticed,
within 60 days of receiving the request.
(2) Refer the proposed amendment to both the Borough and
County Planning Commissions for review and comment.
(3) Hold the hearing at which the procedures for holding a hearing described in §
195-13B above shall be followed, with the Council taking the role of the Zoning Hearing Board.
(4) Vote to accept the curative amendment as presented,
reject it or accept it with certain changes, taking into consideration
the impact of the proposal on the Borough's streets, utilities and
schools, on provision of affordable housing and on the suitability
of a specific site or sites to accommodate the proposal in terms of
soil, slopes, wetlands or floodplains.
B. The curative amendment shall be deemed denied when
the Borough Council fails to schedule the public hearing within 60
days of the request or fails to act within 45 days after the hearing
or when the Council notifies the landowner that it will not adopt
the amendment or adopts another amendment unacceptable to the landowner.
C. If the curative amendment is approved by the Borough
Council or, on appeal of the Council's denial, the court finds merit
in the amendment and overturns the Council's decision, the landowner
shall file for a building permit within one year after favorable decision
or within two years if the amendment requires a subdivision of land
or other approvals by the Council. No amendments to any land use regulations
that would adversely affect the proposal shall apply to it within
the one- or two-year periods.
[Added 8-1-1994 by Ord. No. 455]
A. If the Borough Council determines that this chapter
or any part thereof is substantially invalid, it shall:
(1) Declare by resolution that this chapter or specific
sections are invalid and propose to prepare a curative amendment to
overcome the invalidity.
(2) Make specific findings by resolution setting forth
the declared invalidity which may include references to specific uses
which are either not permitted or not permitted in sufficient quantity,
to a class of uses which require revision or to the entire ordinance
which requires change.
B. Within 180 days from the date of the declaration and
proposal, the Borough Council shall adopt an amendment to cure invalidities
or shall reaffirm the validity of the ordinance as it stood prior
to the declaration.
C. Upon making its declaration and while the Council
considers its curative amendment, the Council shall not be required
to consider any landowner's curative amendment, nor shall the Zoning
Hearing Board be required to hear substantive challenges during this
period.
D. Having utilized the procedure of this section, the
Borough Council may not again declare a curative amendment until 36
months after the date of adoption of the previous amendments or reaffirmation
of the ordinance.