[Amended 6-5-1995 by Ord. No. 95-01]
The Board of Township Supervisors may from time to time amend, supplement, change, modify or repeal this chapter, including the Zoning Map, by proceeding in the following manner.
A. 
For the preparation of amendments to this chapter, the procedure set forth in 53 P.S. § 10607 for the preparation of a proposed zoning ordinance shall be optional.
B. 
Before voting on the enactment of an amendment, the Board of Supervisors shall hold a public hearing thereon, pursuant to public notice and pursuant to mailed notice and electronic notice if applicable per 53 P.S. § 10109. 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. In addition to posting the property, where the proposed amendment involves a zoning map change, notice of the public hearing shall be mailed by the Township at least 30 days prior to the date of the hearing by first class mail to the addresses to which real estate tax bills are sent for all real property located within the area being rezoned, as evidenced by tax records within the Township's possession. The notice shall include the location, date and time of the public hearing. Such notice shall not be necessary if the proposed rezoning constitutes a comprehensive rezoning of the Township.
[Amended 4-15-2002 by Ord. No. 02-03; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
C. 
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.
D. 
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, and mailed notice and electronic notice, if applicable, before proceeding to vote on the amendment.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
E. 
At least 30 days prior to the public hearing on the amendment by the local Board of Supervisors, the Township shall submit the proposed amendment to the County Planning Commission for recommendations.
F. 
The Township may offer a mediation option as an aid in completing proceedings authorized by this section. In exercising such an option, the Township and mediating parties shall meet the stipulations and follow the procedures set forth in Article IX of the Municipalities Planning Code.
G. 
Within 30 days after enactment, a copy of the amendment to this chapter shall be forwarded to the County Planning Commission.
A. 
A landowner who desires to challenge on substantive grounds the validity of this chapter or the Zoning Map or any provision thereof which prohibits or restricts the use or development of land in which the landowner has an interest may submit a curative amendment to the Board of Supervisors with a written request that the challenge and proposed amendment be heard and decided as provided in § 122-132. The Board of Supervisors shall commence a hearing thereon within 60 days of the request as provided in § 122-132. The curative amendment and challenge shall be referred to the Planning Commission or agencies as provided in § 122-136, and notice of the hearing thereon shall be given as provided in § 122-139 and in § 122-132.
B. 
The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with § 122-124, and all references therein to the Zoning Hearing Board shall, for purposes of this section, be references to the Board of Supervisors. If the Township does not accept a landowner's curative amendment brought in accordance with this section and a court subsequently rules that the challenge has merit, the court's decision shall not result in a declaration of invalidity for the entire zoning ordinance and map but only for those provisions which specifically relate to the landowner's curative amendment and challenge.
C. 
If the Board of Supervisors determines that a validity challenge has merit, it may accept a landowner's curative amendment with or without revision or may adopt an alternative amendment which will cure the challenged defects. The Board of Supervisors shall consider the curative amendments, plans and explanatory material submitted by the landowner and shall also consider:
(1) 
The impact of the proposal upon roads, sewer facilities, water supplies, schools and other public service facilities.
(2) 
If the proposal is for a residential use, the impact of the proposal upon regional housing needs and the effectiveness of the proposal in providing housing units of a type actually available to and affordable by classes of persons otherwise unlawfully excluded by the challenged provisions of the ordinance or map.
(3) 
The suitability of the site for the intensity of use proposed by the site's soils, slopes, woodland, wetlands, floodplains, aquifers, natural resources and other natural features.
(4) 
The impact of the proposed use on the site's soils, slopes, woodlands, wetlands, floodplains, natural resources and natural features, the degree to which these are protected or destroyed, the tolerance of the resources to development and any adverse environmental impacts.
(5) 
The impact of the proposal on the preservation of agriculture and other land uses which are essential to public health and welfare.
If the Township determines that this chapter or any portion hereof is substantially invalid, it shall take the following actions:
A. 
The Township shall declare by formal action this chapter or portions hereof substantively invalid and propose to prepare a curative amendment to overcome such invalidity. Within 30 days following such declaration and proposal, the Board of Supervisors shall:
(1) 
By resolution make specific findings setting forth the declared invalidity of this chapter which may include:
(a) 
References to specific uses which are either not permitted or not permitted in sufficient quantity.
(b) 
Reference to a class of use or uses which require revision.
(c) 
Reference to the entire chapter which requires revisions.
(2) 
Begin to prepare and consider a curative amendment to this chapter to correct the declared invalidity.
B. 
Within 180 days from the date of the declaration and proposal, the Township shall enact a curative amendment to validate or reaffirm the validity of this chapter pursuant to the provisions required by § 122-136 in order to cure the declared invalidity of this chapter.
C. 
Upon the initiation of the procedures, as set forth in Subsection A, the Board of Supervisors shall not be required to entertain or consider any landowner's curative amendment filed under § 122-137, nor shall the Zoning Hearing Board be required to give a report requested under § 122-125 or 122-132 subsequent to the declaration and proposal based upon the grounds identical to or substantially similar to those specified in the resolution required by Subsection A(1). Upon completion of the procedures as set forth in Subsections A and B, no rights to a cure pursuant to the provisions of §§ 122-137 and 122-132 shall, from the date of the declaration and proposal, accrue to any landowner on the basis of the substantive invalidity of the unamended zoning ordinance for which there has been a curative amendment pursuant to this section.
D. 
If the Township utilizes the procedures as set forth in Subsections A and B, it may not again utilize said procedure for a thirty-six-month period following the date of the enactment of a curative amendment or reaffirmation of the validity of this chapter, pursuant to Subsection B; provided, however, that if after the date of declaration and proposal there is a substantially new duty or obligation imposed upon the Township by virtue of a change in statute or by virtue of a Pennsylvania Appellate Court decision, the Township may utilize the provisions of this section to prepare a curative amendment to this chapter to fulfill said duty or obligation.
A. 
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 a place within the Township where copies of the proposed ordinance or amendment 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 the 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 the provisions in reasonable detail. If the full text is not included:
(1) 
A copy thereof shall be supplied to a newspaper of general circulation in the Township at the time the public notice is published.
(2) 
An attested copy of the proposed ordinance shall be filed in the county law library or other county office designated by the county commissioners, who may impose a fee no greater than that necessary to cover the actual costs of storing said ordinances.
B. 
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.
C. 
Zoning ordinances and amendments may be incorporated into official ordinance books by reference with the same force and effect as if duly recorded therein.