Any Zoning Hearing Board member or alternate
may be removed for malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance in office
or for other just cause by a majority vote of the Board of Supervisors
which appointed the member, taken after the member has received 15
days' advance notice of the intent to take such vote. A hearing shall
be held in connection with the vote if the member shall request it
in writing.
The Zoning Hearing 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 members of the Zoning Hearing Board and alternates, if appointed, but the Zoning Hearing 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 Zoning Hearing Board as provided in Article
IX, Section 908, of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247, as amended. The Zoning Hearing Board may make, alter and rescind rules
and forms for its procedure, consistent with ordinances of the Township
and laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Zoning Hearing Board
shall keep full public records of its business and shall submit a
report of its activities to the Board of Supervisors once a year.
[Added 11-13-2001 by Ord. No. 119]
A. General criteria.
(1)
Special exception uses are listed for each zoning
district article of this chapter unless otherwise noted. Only those
uses expressly listed as special exceptions in a particular zoning
district may be considered in that zoning district, except as otherwise
specified.
(2)
Special exceptions shall be accompanied by an
application for land development. Compliance with land development
requirements shall be required for approval of the development.
(3)
Any application for a special exception use
shall demonstrate that:
(a)
The use will not endanger the public health,
safety or welfare if located where proposed, and will not deteriorate
the environment or generate nuisance conditions;
(b)
The use can be accommodated on the site with
no variances required;
(c)
The use is compatible with or will support the
uses in the neighborhood of the site;
(d)
The use does not require extensive earth moving
or revision of drainage patterns or create substantial increase in
stormwater flow;
(e)
The use will not create excessive traffic congestion,
and adequate off-street parking is provided on the same property as
the use;
(f)
Areas of the property not to be covered by buildings
or paved are to be landscaped and maintained;
(g)
Primary access points to the property are located
as far as possible from road or street intersections, and adequate
sight distances for the posted speed limits have been met;
(h)
The Board may attach such reasonable conditions
and safeguards in addition to those expressed herein to implement
the purposes of this chapter.
B. Procedure for review.
(1)
A developer proposing a special exception use
shall submit three copies of the following materials to the Secretary
of the Zoning Hearing Board:
(a)
A written statement supporting the general criteria
outlined in this section and describing in detail the proposed use;
(b)
An accurate scaled illustrative site plan showing
the arrangement of the proposed use on the site, including property
lines, uses and structures on adjacent properties, abutting streets,
buildings existing and proposed on the site by use and height, points
of access into the site, internal driveways, parking area layout with
number of spaces noted, freestanding signs to remain or are proposed,
areas of earthmoving with proposed grade of finished slopes identified,
method of collecting and disposing of stormwater, proposed landscaping
and other pertinent information to illustrate the proposal.
(2)
The Zoning Hearing Board shall call and hold
a public hearing pursuant to public notice on the proposal within
60 days of receipt of the required materials and a complete application,
in the same manner as for any action requested of it.
(3)
The Board shall, within 45 days of the conclusion
of the public hearing, render a decision on the proposal to either:
(a)
Approve the use as submitted;
(b)
Approve the use with conditions determined by
the Board;
(4)
The applicant shall have 30 days in which to notify the Board
that he accepts any attached conditions. Failure to accept shall render
the approval denied for failure to accept the specified conditions.
[Amended 12-11-2017 by Ord. No. 206]
(5)
The Board shall authorize the Zoning Officer
to issue a zoning/building permit for any approved special exception
use.
(6)
Failure of the applicant to apply for a zoning/building
permit within one year of receiving approval shall render the decision
by the Board null and void.
Any person aggrieved by the rendering of a decision
by the Zoning Officer, municipal agency or body shall have 30 days
from the date of said decision in which to file an appeal or request
for review if such appeal is designed to secure reversal or to limit
the approval in any manner unless such person proves that he had no
notice or knowledge of such decision.
Appeals from a decision or from the findings of the Zoning Hearing Board shall be filed and handled in the manner prescribed by Act 247, Article
IX, as amended, known as the "Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code."