A. 
It shall be the duty of the Zoning Officer to take cognizance of violations of this chapter. He shall investigate each violation which comes to his attention, whether by observation or communication. If it appears to the Zoning Officer or the Township that a violation of any zoning ordinance has occurred, the Township shall initiate enforcement proceedings by sending an enforcement notice as provided in this section.
(1) 
The 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) 
An enforcement notice shall state at least the following:
(a) 
The name of the owner of record and any other person against whom the Township 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 30 days of receipt of said notice of violation.
(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 the possible sanctions clearly described.
B. 
Failure to secure a zoning permit or Zoning Hearing Board certificate, when required, previous to the erection, construction, extension or addition of a building, shall also be a violation of this chapter. Failure to secure any permit required by this chapter shall also be a violation of this chapter. Failure to comply with any order or decision of the Zoning Hearing Board shall also be a violation of this chapter.
A. 
Any person, partnership or corporation who or which has violated or permitted the violation of the provisions of any zoning ordinance or other statute shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township, pay a judgment of not more than $500 plus court costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Township 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. District Justices shall have initial jurisdiction over proceedings brought under this section. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable 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 the person, partnership or corporation violating the ordinance to have believed that there was no such violation, in which 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 attorneys' fees collected for violation of the zoning ordinances shall be paid over to the Township.
B. 
The Court of Common Pleas, upon petition, may grant an order of stay, upon cause shown, tolling the per diem fine pending final adjudication of the violation and judgment.
C. 
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed or interpreted to grant to any person or entity other than the Township the right to commence any action for enforcement pursuant to this section.
In case any building, structure, landscaping or land is or is proposed to be erected, constructed, reconstructed, altered, converted, maintained or used in violation of any ordinance or other statute, the Board of Supervisors or, with the approval of the Board of Supervisors, an officer of the Township or any aggrieved owner or tenant of real property who shows that his property or person shall be substantially affected by the alleged violation, in addition to other remedies, may institute any appropriate action or proceeding to prevent, restrain, correct or abate such building, structure, landscaping or land, or to prevent, in or about such premises, any act, conduct, business or use constituting a violation. When any such action is instituted by a landowner or tenant, notice of that action shall be served upon the Township at least 30 days prior to the time the action is begun by serving a copy of the complaint on the Board of Supervisors of the Township. No such action may be maintained until such notice has been given.
A. 
The Board of Supervisors may appropriate funds to finance the preparation of zoning ordinances and shall appropriate funds for administration, for enforcement and for actions to support or oppose, upon appeal to the courts, decisions of the Zoning Hearing Board.
B. 
The Board of Supervisors shall make provision in the budget and appropriate funds for the operation of the Zoning Hearing Board.
C. 
The Zoning Hearing Board may employ or contract for and fix the compensation of legal counsel, as the need arises. The legal counsel shall be an attorney other than the Township Solicitor. The Board may also employ or contract for and fix the compensation of experts and other staff and may contract for services as it shall deem necessary. The compensation of legal counsel, experts and staff and the sums expended for services shall not exceed the amount appropriated by the Board of Supervisors for this use.
D. 
For the same purposes, the Board of Supervisors may accept gifts and grants of money and services from private sources and from the county, state and federal governments.
E. 
The Board of Supervisors may prescribe reasonable fees with respect to the administration of the Zoning Ordinance and with respect to hearings before the Zoning Hearing Board. Fees for these hearings may include compensation for the Secretary and members of the Zoning Hearing Board, notice and advertising costs and necessary administrative overhead connected with the hearing. The cost, however, shall not include legal expenses of the Zoning Hearing Board, expenses for engineering, architectural or other technical consultants or expert witness costs.
[Amended 12-23-2008 by Ord. No. 512]
The Board of Supervisors shall establish a fee schedule in which shall be listed the various fees for applications, permits and hearings. Said fee schedule shall be based, as nearly as possible, upon actual costs to the Township for said applications, permits and hearings. The fee schedule may be amended from time to time by resolution.[1]
[1]
Editor’s Note: The fee schedule is on file in the Township offices.
A. 
The Board of Supervisors, from time to time, may amend, supplement, change, modify or repeal this chapter, including the Zoning Map, by proceeding in the following manner, and as otherwise required by law.
B. 
Amendment procedures.
(1) 
Before voting on the enactment of an amendment, the Board of Supervisors shall hold a public hearing thereon, pursuant to public notice. In addition, if the proposed amendment involves a Zoning Map change, notice of said public hearing shall be conspicuously posted by the Township at points deemed sufficient by the Township along the perimeter of the tract to notify potentially interested citizens. The affected tract or area shall be posted at least one week prior to the date of the hearing.
(2) 
In the case of an amendment, other than that prepared by the Planning Commission, the Board of Supervisors shall submit each such amendment to the Planning Commission at least 30 days prior to the hearing on such proposed amendment to provide the Planning Commission an opportunity to submit recommendations.
(3) 
If, after any public hearing held upon an amendment, the proposed amendment is changed substantially or is revised to include land previously not affected by it, the Board of Supervisors shall hold another public hearing, pursuant to public notice, before proceeding to vote on the amendment.
(4) 
At least 30 days prior to the public hearing on the amendment by the Board of Supervisors, the Township shall submit the proposed amendment to the County Planning Commission for recommendations.
(5) 
Within 30 days after enactment, a copy of the amendment to the Zoning Ordinance shall be forwarded to the County Planning Commission.
C. 
Publication, advertisement and availability of ordinances.
(1) 
Proposed zoning ordinances and amendments shall not be enacted unless notice of proposed enactment is given in the manner set forth in this section, and shall include the time and place of the meeting at which passage will be considered, a reference to the place within the Township where copies of the proposed ordinance or amendments may be examined without charge or obtained for a charge not greater than the cost thereof. The Board of Supervisors shall publish the proposed ordinance or amendment once in one newspaper of general circulation in the Township not more than 60 days nor less than seven days prior to passage. Publication of the proposed ordinance or amendment shall include either the full text thereof or the title and a brief summary prepared by the Township Solicitor and setting forth all of the provisions in reasonable detail. If the full text is not included:
(a) 
A copy thereof shall be supplied to a newspaper of general circulation in the Township at the time the public notice is published.
(b) 
An attested copy of the proposed ordinance shall be filed in the Montgomery County Law Library.
(2) 
In the event that substantial amendments are made in the proposed ordinance or amendment, before voting upon enactment, the Board of Supervisors shall, at least 10 days prior to enactment, readvertise in one newspaper of general circulation in the Township a brief summary setting forth all the provisions in reasonable detail, together with a summary of the amendments.
(3) 
Zoning ordinances and amendments may be incorporated into the official ordinance books by reference with the same force and effect as if duly recorded therein.
The Board of Supervisors shall submit each such amendment to the County Planning Commission and the Township Planning Commission at least 30 days prior to the hearing on such proposed amendment to provide the Township Planning Commission an opportunity to submit recommendations.