Appeals to Board; representation.
A. Appeals to the Zoning Hearing Board under
§ 455-110: Powers., other than applications for special exceptions and variances, may be filed in writing with the Board by the landowner affected, any officer or agency of the Township or any person aggrieved. Requests for variances and for special exceptions under
§ 455-110: Powers. may be filed with the Board by the landowner or any tenant with the permission of such landowner.
B. Applicants may appear on their own behalf or may be represented by an attorney at law admitted to practice before the courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. No persons not admitted to practice before the courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as an attorney at law shall represent any person before the Board; provided, however, that representation of a corporate applicant by its responsible officers or a partnership by its partners shall be permitted. The Board shall have the power in its discretion to waive this rule upon cause shown.
Applications for relief.
A. Time limitations.
(1) No person shall be allowed to file any proceeding with the Board later than 30 days after an application for development, preliminary or final, has been approved by an appropriate Township officer, agency or body if such proceeding is designed to secure reversal or to limit the approval in any manner, unless such person alleges and proves that he had no notice, knowledge or reason to believe that such approval had been given. If such person has succeeded to his interest after such approval, he shall be bound by the knowledge of his predecessor in interest. The failure of anyone other than the landowner to appeal from an adverse decision by the Zoning Officer on a challenge to the validity of this chapter or the Zoning Map pursuant to Section 916.2 of the Municipalities Planning Code[1] shall preclude an appeal from a final approval, except in the case where the final submission substantially deviates from the approved preliminary approval.
(2) All appeals from determinations adverse to the landowner shall be filed by the landowner within 30 days after notice of the determination is issued.
B. Application fees.
(1) Upon submission of any application to the Zoning Hearing Board, the applicant shall deposit as part of the application with the Zoning Officer the application fee and/or escrow designated by resolution of the Supervisors then in effect. No application shall be accepted as complete and no hearing shall be scheduled without payment of the application fee. The application fee shall be expended to pay for the administrative costs specified in the Supervisors' resolution.
(2) If at any time the charges then made against the applicant's deposit shall render the balance insufficient to ensure the payment of all costs, expenses, charges and fees that may accrue in the disposition of the pending application, the Zoning Hearing Board may require additional deposits to be made from time to time to assure adequate funds to pay such charges, costs, expenses and fees as they may accrue. The failure of the Board to demand additional deposits shall not relieve the applicant of liability for costs, charges, fees and expenses in excess of deposits.
C. Application requirements. Twelve hard copies and one electronic copy in PDF format of an application and all attachments and plans shall be submitted to the Zoning Officer. Appeals, applications or challenges shall be initiated before the Board by filing with the Zoning Officer a completed and executed application in the form adopted by the Board and provided for that purpose, which shall state, at a minimum:
(1) The name, address and standing of the applicant.
(2) The name and address of the owner of the real estate to be affected by the proposed relief.
(3) A brief description and location of the real estate to be affected by such proposed relief, including its tax parcel number.
(4) A statement of the present zoning classification of the real estate in question, the date of acquisition thereof and the present use thereof.
(5) A statement of the section of this chapter under which an exception is requested or variance or other relief is sought or to which challenge as to the validity is made, and a statement of the specific relief sought and the chapter provisions applicable thereto.
(6) A discussion of applicable provisions of this chapter and the evidence that will be offered at the hearing in support of the applicant's right to the relief requested.
(7) A reasonably accurate description of the present improvements and the additions intended to be made under the application, indicating the size of such proposed improvements, materials and general construction thereof and sufficient information to display compliance with the area, bulk and setback requirements and design standards of this chapter. Unless specifically excused by general order or special rule of the Board, there shall be attached a plot plan of the real estate to be affected, prepared by a Pennsylvania-registered engineer or registered land surveyor, indicating the location and size of the lot and size of the improvements now erected and proposed to be erected, showing all dimensions, computations, areas, percentages and measurements necessary to demonstrate compliance with all the terms and requirements of this chapter. Also attached to the application shall be a true and correct copy of the application for building permit, showing the Zoning Officer's action with respect thereto.
D. No application hereunder shall be considered filed until such time as the Zoning Officer shall have reviewed the application, determined that the application is complete based upon the requirements herein and under the rules of the Board, and notified the applicant of the acceptance of the application.
Stay of proceedings.
Upon filing an appeal under this section and during its pendency before the Board, all land development pursuant to any challenged ordinance, order or approval of the Zoning Officer or of any agency or body and all official action thereunder shall be stayed unless the Zoning Officer or any other appropriate agency or body certifies to the Board facts indicating that such stay would cause imminent peril to life or property, in which case the development or official action shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order, which may be granted by the Board or by a court having jurisdiction of zoning appeals, on petition, after notice to the Zoning Officer or other appropriate agency or body. When an application for development, preliminary or final, has been duly approved and proceedings designed to reverse or limit the approval are filed with the Board by persons other than the applicant, the applicant may petition the court having jurisdiction of zoning appeals to order such persons to post bond as a condition to continuing the proceedings before the Board.
Hearing procedure.
A. The hearing shall be conducted by the Board, or the Board may appoint any member or an independent attorney as a hearing officer. The decision, or, where no decision is called for, the findings, shall be made by the Board, but the parties may waive decision or findings by the Board and accept the decision or findings of the hearing officer as final.
B. The parties to the hearing shall be the applicant, Easttown Township, any person affected by the application that has made timely appearance of record before the Board, and any other person or civic or community organization permitted by the Board to appear. The Board may require all persons wishing to become parties to enter their appearances in writing on forms provided by the Board for that purpose.
C. The Chairman or Acting Chairman of the Board or the hearing officer presiding shall have power to administer oaths and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and for the production of relevant documents and papers, including witnesses and documents requested by the parties. The parties shall have the right to be represented by counsel and shall be afforded the opportunity to respond and present evidence and argument and to cross-examine adverse witnesses on all relevant issues.
D. Formal rules of evidence shall not apply, but irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence may be excluded by the Board.
E. The burden of proof shall always be on the applicant before the Zoning Hearing Board to sustain the appeal before the Board. The applicant's burden of proof shall include the duty of presenting credible evidence sufficient to persuade the Board that the applicant has satisfied the criteria set forth in the applicable sections of this chapter.
F. A stenographic record of the proceedings shall be made by a court reporter. The applicant and the Board shall share the appearance fee for the court reporter equally. The cost of the original transcript shall be paid by the Board if the transcript is ordered by the Board or hearing officer or shall be paid by the person appealing from the decision of the Board if such appeal is made, and in either event, the cost of additional copies shall be paid by the person requesting such copy or copies. In other cases, the party requesting the original transcript shall bear the cost thereof.
G. Neither the Board nor the hearing officer shall communicate directly or indirectly with any party or his representatives in connection with any issue involved, except upon notice and an opportunity for all parties to participate, shall not take notice of any communication, reports, staff memoranda or other materials, except advice from the Board's Solicitor, unless the parties are afforded an opportunity to contest the material so noticed, and shall not inspect the site or its surroundings after the commencement of the hearings with any party or his representative unless all parties are given an opportunity to be present.
H. The initial hearing and any subsequent hearing shall be scheduled in accordance with the requirements of Section 908(1.2) of the Municipalities Planning Code.
I. The Board or the hearing officer, as the case may be, shall render a written decision or, when no decision is required, make written findings on the application within 45 days of the close of the last hearing, unless extended by the applicant. Where the application is contested or denied, the decision shall be accompanied by findings of fact and conclusions based thereon, together with the reasons therefor. Conclusions based on any provisions of this chapter, or any ordinance, rule or regulation shall contain a reference to the provision relied upon and the reasons why the conclusion is deemed appropriate under the facts as found. If the hearing is conducted by a hearing officer, and there has been no stipulation that his decision or findings are final, the Board shall make the report and recommendations available to the parties within 45 days, and the parties shall be entitled to make written representations thereon to the Board prior to final decision or entry of findings, and the Board's decision shall be entered no later than 30 days after the report of the hearing officer.
J. Except for challenges filed under Municipalities Planning Code Section 916.1,[2] in the event the Board fails to hold a public hearing or render a decision within the times required by this section, the decision shall be deemed to have been rendered in favor of the applicant, unless the applicant has agreed in writing or on the record to an extension of time. When a decision has been rendered in favor of the applicant because of the failure of the Board to meet or render a decision as required by this section, the Board shall give public notice of the decision within 10 days from the last day it could have met to render a decision in the same manner as required by the public notice requirements of this section. If the Board shall fail to provide such notice, the applicant may do so.
K. A copy of the final decision or, where no decision is called for, of the findings shall be delivered to the applicant personally or mailed by first-class United States Mail to the applicant not later than the day following its date. To all other persons who have filed their name and address with the Board not later than the last day of the hearing, the Board shall provide, by mail or otherwise, brief notice of the decision or findings and a statement of the place at which the full decision or findings may be examined.
