Bethel Park City Zoning Code

The Zoning Hearing Board shall consist of five members appointed by the Municipal Council. The terms of office shall be five years and shall be so fixed that the term of office of one member of a five-member Board shall expire each year. Appointments to fill vacancies shall be only for the unexpired portion of the term. Board members may be removed as prescribed by the MPC.[1]

The Board shall elect its own Chairman and Vice Chairman, who shall serve for one year. The Board shall adopt rules necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this ordinance.

Meetings of the Board shall be held at regular times and at the call of the Chairman and at such other times as the Board may determine. Such Chairman or, in his absence, the acting Chairman may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses. All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public. The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating the fact, and shall keep records of its examinations and other official actions, all of which shall be immediately filed in the office of the Board and shall be a public record. All testimony, objections thereto and rulings thereon shall be transcribed by a reporter employed by the Board for the purpose upon request.

(Reserved)[2]

The Municipal Council may appoint, by resolution at least one, but no more than three, residents of the Municipality to serve as alternate members of the Board. The term of office of an alternate member shall be three years. Any alternate may participate in any proceeding or discussion of the Board but shall not be entitled to vote as a member of the Board unless designated as a voting alternate member pursuant to Subsection 69.65.6 of this ordinance. If an alternate is designated to sit on the Board by reason of absence or disqualification of a member of the Board as set forth in Subsection 69.65.6, the alternate as a voting member shall be entitled to participate in all proceedings and discussions of the Board to the same and full extent as provided by law for Board members, including specifically the right to cast a vote as a voting member during the proceedings as designated in Subsection 69.65.6, and shall have all the power and duties set forth in this ordinance and as otherwise provided by law. Alternates shall not be a current employee of the Municipality nor shall they currently hold an elected or appointed position in the Municipality. Alternate members may be removed in the same manner as prescribed in the Municipalities Planning Code[3] for removal of Board members.

The Chairman of the Board shall designate as many alternate members of the Board to sit on the Board as may be needed by reason of absence or disqualification of a member. If a full complement of voting members is not available because of absence or disqualification of a member, the Chairman of the Board shall designate alternate members of the Board, if available, as voting members to obtain a full complement of voting members. There shall not be more than five members voting on any specific matter or case. Any alternate member of the Board shall continue to serve on the Board in all proceedings involving the matter or case for which the alternate was initially appointed until the Board has made a final determination of the matter or case. Designation of an alternate pursuant to this subsection shall be made on a case-by-case basis in rotation according to declining seniority among all alternates.

(Reserved)[4]

The term of office for alternate members shall be so fixed so that one alternate member of the possible three alternate members shall expire each year.

Jurisdiction. The Zoning Hearing Board shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and render final adjudications in all matters prescribed by the MPC. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to deny the appellant the right to proceed directly to court where appropriate, pursuant to the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure No. 1091.

Functions relating to variances. The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear requests for variances as prescribed by the MPC.

Parties appellant before the Board. Appeals to the Board may be filed only by the parties prescribed by the MPC.

Appeals in Floodplain District.

Time limitations. 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 municipal officer, agency or body or as otherwise prescribed by the MPC.[1]

Hearings and decisions. The Board shall conduct hearings and make decisions in accordance with the requirements of the MPC. A variance granted pursuant to this section shall expire 12 months from the date of such grant unless the appropriate permits have been applied for consistent with such grant. Upon written request of the applicant, the Zoning Officer may grant an extension of said variance for an additional 12 months when there have been no changes to the Zoning Ordinance which would require additional variances for the proposed development.

Stay of proceedings. Upon filing of any proceeding to the Board 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 agent or body and all official action thereunder shall be stayed unless such stay would cause imminent peril to life or property as prescribed by the MPC. Petitions to the court to stay shall be as prescribed by the MPC.

Petition for reconsideration. Petitions may be made to the Board for reconsideration of an appeal which has been decided by the Board, provided that such petition is received within 30 days of the original decision by the Board. The petition for reconsideration shall be verified and contain adequate information establishing that an essential element of the original appeal has been changed, thereby warranting reconsideration, i.e., identity of the applicant, ordinance section relied upon, or the discovery of new evidence. A fee equal to that of the original appeal shall be paid with each petition upon filing for reconsideration. The Board, in its sole discretion, shall decide whether to allow reconsideration, but in no case shall it reconsider an appeal where the essential elements of which have not changed since the Board's prior decision.

Validity of ordinance; substantive questions. All challenges to the validity of an ordinance or map shall be as prescribed by the MPC.

Appeals to court. All appeals to the court shall be as prescribed by the MPC and the Judicial Code (42 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq.).

Fees. A fee of $250 for single-family residential and a fee of $400 for commercial and all others shall be paid to the Municipality at the time the application is filed. All fees shall be credited to the general revenue fund and are not refundable.