Dormont City Zoning Code

The Zoning Officer shall be appointed by the Borough Council and shall hold no elective office in the Borough. The Zoning Officer shall meet the qualifications established by the Borough and shall be able to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Borough, a working knowledge of municipal zoning.

The Zoning Officer shall have all the powers and duties conferred on them by this chapter and the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. The Zoning Officer shall administer this code in accordance with its literal terms and shall not have the power to permit any construction or any use or change of use that does not conform to this chapter. The Zoning Officer’s duties shall include the following:

It shall be unlawful to use or change the use of any structure or lot or erect, structurally alter or enlarge any structure without obtaining a building/zoning permit or certificate of occupancy.

It shall be unlawful to structurally alter, enlarge, move, remove or construct any structure without obtaining a building/zoning permit. All applications shall be submitted as set forth herein. The Zoning Officer shall review all applications for compliance with applicable codes and ordinances and shall issue a building/zoning permit or a written decision denying the permit that contains references to the ordinance requirements that have not been met within 90 days of receipt of the application.

Permits for temporary structures authorized by this article may be issued by the Zoning Officer only for the time that construction work is in progress and for a period not to exceed six months. The permit may be renewed for an additional six-month period upon demonstration of continued need for the structures; however, all temporary structures shall be removed upon completion of construction. Permits for all other temporary structures shall be subject to the requirements of this article.

If, after approval of conditional use or a use by special exception, an application for a building/zoning permit to undertake work described in that application has not been submitted within 12 months of the date of granting of approval by the Borough, approval of the conditional use or use by special exception shall expire automatically without written notice to the applicant, unless the Borough Council or the Zoning Hearing Board, as the case may be, extends the approval upon written request by the applicant prior to its expiration.

No building/zoning permit for the erection, demolition, alteration or removal of buildings or structures shall be valid after six months from the date of issuance thereof, unless the work authorized by such permit shall have been substantially commenced within six months from the date of issuance and proceeded with, with due diligence. If, however, the applicant has been delayed in proceeding with the work for which the permit was granted by virtue of any reasonable cause and not due to their own negligence, the permit may be renewed by the Zoning Officer without additional cost to the applicant.

If, after commencement of construction, the work is discontinued for a period of three months without reasonable cause outside the applicant’s or contractor’s control, such permits shall be void, and work shall not be commenced until a new permit shall have been issued.

A certificate of use and occupancy shall not be required for any residential dwelling that exists on the date of adoption of this chapter unless a building/zoning permit is issued for the movement, reconstruction or alteration of the dwelling that results in a change in the location of the dwelling, the total lot coverage or the total number of families housed in the dwelling.

When a building/zoning permit has been issued for the reconstruction, alteration or movement of any other structure or the construction of any new structure, including dwellings, it shall be unlawful to use or occupy that structure without a certificate of use and occupancy. Upon completion of the construction, reconstruction, alteration or movement of the structure, the holder of the building/zoning permit shall notify the Zoning Officer that the work has been completed and the structure is ready to be used or occupied.

Upon inspection and determination that all applicable ordinance regulations and any conditions attached to the issuance of the building/zoning permit have been met, the Zoning Officer shall issue a certificate of use and occupancy.

For all uses in the C Zoning District, and for all commercial uses and two-unit and multi-unit dwellings in any zoning district, any change in occupancy from one owner or tenant to another or any change from one use to another of any structure or lot shall require the issuance of a certificate of use and occupancy, whether or not a building/zoning permit is required. Prior to occupying the building or structure in which the change of use or occupancy is established, the landowner or lessee shall be required to make an application for a certificate of use and occupancy. The Zoning Officer shall determine that all applicable regulations of this chapter for the proposed change of use or change of occupancy have been met prior to issuing the certificate of use and occupancy.

Issuance of all certificates of use and occupancy shall be subject to payment of the required fee established from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.

Certificate of use and occupancy for adult businesses.

All applications shall be submitted in a form and manner acceptable to the Borough. All applications shall be accompanied by the required fee established from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council and which schedule of fees is available to the public in the office of the Borough Manager. All applications to be referred to the Planning Commission shall be filed at least 30 calendar days prior to the regular meeting of the Planning Commission at which the application is to be considered.

Applications for conditional uses. All applications for conditional use approval shall be submitted and shall be processed in accordance with the requirements herein.

Applications for uses by special exception. All applications for uses by special exception shall be submitted and shall be processed in accordance with the requirements herein.

Applications for approval of a land development. All applications that require approval of a land development plan shall be submitted and processed in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 183, Subdivision and Land Development.

Application for building/zoning permits.

The Borough Council shall establish a schedule of fees by resolution, as well as a collection procedure, for all applications submitted under the provisions of this code. The schedule of fees shall be posted in the office of the Borough Manager.

The Borough Council may introduce and/or consider amendments to this code and to the Zoning Map as proposed by a member of the Borough Council, the Planning Commission, or a petition of a landowner of property within the Borough.

Petitions for amendments shall be filed with the Planning Commission at least 30 calendar days prior to the meeting at which the petition is to be heard. The petitioners, upon such filing, shall pay an advertising deposit and a filing fee, in accordance with a schedule fixed by resolution of the Borough Council. The Planning Commission shall review the proposed amendment and report its findings and recommendations, in writing, to the Borough Council.

Any proposed amendment presented to the Borough Council without written findings and recommendations from the Planning Commission and the Allegheny County Planning Commission shall be referred to these agencies for review at least 30 days prior to public hearing by the Borough Council. The Borough Council shall not hold a public hearing upon such amendments until the required reviews are received or the expiration of 30 days from the date of referral.

If the proposed amendment involves a Zoning Map change, a minimum of two notices of the public hearing shall be conspicuously posted on the property at least seven days prior to the date of the public hearing.

Before acting upon a proposed amendment, the Borough Council shall hold a public hearing thereon. Public notice, as defined by this chapter, shall be given and shall contain a brief summary of the proposed amendment and reference to the place where copies of the same may be examined.

If, after any public hearing is held upon a proposed amendment, the amendment is substantially changed or revised to include land previously not affected by the amendment, the Borough Council shall hold another public hearing, pursuant to public notice, before proceeding to vote on the amendment.

Publication, advertisement and availability.

Within 90 days of the date when the public hearing on the proposed amendment is officially closed, the Borough Council shall vote on the proposed amendment. In the event substantial amendments are made in the proposed amendment before voting on enactment of the amendment, the Borough Council shall re-advertise in one newspaper of general circulation in the Borough a brief summary setting forth all the provisions in reasonable detail, together with a summary of the amendments, at least 10 days prior to enactment.

Within 30 days after enactment, a copy of the amendment to this code shall be forwarded to the Allegheny County Planning Commission.

The Borough Council may offer the mediation option as an aid in completing proceedings authorized by this section. The Borough and the mediating parties shall meet the stipulations and follow the procedures set forth in this article.

A curative amendment may be filed only by a landowner who desires to challenge, on substantive grounds, the validity of this chapter or the Zoning Map or any provision thereof that prohibits or restricts the use or development of land in which they have an interest.

The landowner may submit a curative amendment to the Borough Council with a written request that their challenge and proposed amendment be heard and decided as provided in Sections 609.1 and 916.1 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code,[1] Act 247, as amended. As with other proposed amendments, the curative amendment shall be referred to the Planning Commission and the Allegheny County Planning Commission at least 30 days before the hearing is conducted by the Borough Council. Public notice shall be given in accordance with Sections 610, 916.1 and any other applicable provision of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. The hearings shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Subdivisions through of Section 908 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, and all references in that section to the Zoning Hearing Board shall be references to the Borough Council.[2]

If the Borough Council determines that a validity challenge has merit, the Borough Council may accept a landowner’s curative amendment, with or without revision, or may adopt an alternative amendment that will cure the challenged defects. The Borough Council shall consider the curative amendments, plans and explanatory material submitted by the landowner and shall also consider:

If the Borough 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 this entire article, but only for those provisions that specifically relate to the landowner’s curative amendment and challenge.

The membership of the Zoning Hearing Board shall consist of five residents of the Borough appointed by the Borough Council. The terms of office of the five-member Board shall be five years and shall be so fixed that the term of office of one member of the five-member Board shall expire each year. The members of the three-member Board currently in office as of the date of this provision’s enactment shall continue in office until their terms of office are set to expire. Borough Council shall appoint two additional members to the Board, with one member’s initial term scheduled to expire in four years, and the other member’s term scheduled to expire in five years. The Board shall promptly notify the Borough Council when vacancies occur. Appointments to fill vacancies shall be only for the unexpired portion of the term. Members of the Board shall hold no other elected or appointed office in the Borough, nor shall any member be an employee of the Borough.

The Borough Council may appoint by resolution at least one but no more than three residents of the Borough to serve as alternate members of the Board. The term of office of an alternate member shall be three years. When seated, an alternate 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, and shall have all the power and duties set forth in this article and as otherwise provided by law. Alternates shall hold no other elected or appointed office in the Borough, including service as a member of the Planning Commission or as a Zoning Officer, nor shall any alternate be an employee of the Borough. 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 this section.

The Chairman of the Board may designate alternate members of the Board to replace any absent or disqualified member, and if by reason of absence or disqualification of a member, a quorum is not reached, the Chairman of the Board shall designate as many alternate members of the Board to sit on the Board as may be needed to reach a quorum. 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 decision on 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.

The Zoning Hearing Board shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and render final adjudication in the following matters:

The Board, upon appeal, shall have the power to authorize variances from the requirements of this chapter and to attach such conditions to the variance as it deems necessary to assure compliance with the purposes of this chapter. A variance may be granted if all of the following findings are made where relevant in a given case:

In granting any variance, the Board may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards as it may deem necessary to implement the purposes of this chapter and protect the public health, safety and welfare.

A public hearing shall be held on any appeal filed under this chapter within 60 days of filing of a complete application. The public hearing shall be held pursuant to public notice, as defined by this chapter. In addition to the public notice, at least one week prior to the hearing, the Board shall post at least one copy of the notice on the affected property and shall mail a copy of the notice by regular mail to each adjoining property owner, including those located across a street right-of-way. The Board shall comply with all requirements of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247, as amended) regarding conduct of the public hearing and rendering a decision.

Where the Board fails to render a decision within the required forty-five-day period or fails to hold the required hearing within 60 days of the applicant’s request for a hearing, 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 failure of the Board to meet or render a decision, the Board shall give public notice of the decision within 10 days from the last day it could have met to render a decision. If the Board shall fail to provide such notice, the applicant may do so. Nothing in this section shall prejudice the right of any party opposing the application to appeal the decision to the court.

Parties to proceedings authorized in this article may utilize mediation as an aid in completing such proceedings. In proceedings before the Zoning Hearing Board, in no case shall the Zoning Hearing Board initiate mediation or participate as a mediating party. Mediation shall supplement, not replace, those procedures in this article once they have been formally initiated. Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted as expanding or limiting municipal police powers or as modifying any principles of substantive law.

Participation in mediation shall be wholly voluntary. The appropriateness of mediation shall be determined by the particulars of each case and the willingness of the parties to negotiate. Any municipality offering the mediation option shall assure that in each case the mediating parties, assisted by the mediator as appropriate, develop terms and conditions for:

No offers or statements made in the mediation sessions, excluding the final written mediated agreement, shall be admissible as evidence in any subsequent judicial or administrative proceedings.

The Borough Council may prescribe reasonable fees with respect to hearings before the Zoning Hearing Board. Fees for said 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 costs, however, shall not include legal expenses of the Zoning Hearing Board, expenses for engineering, architectural or other technical consultants or expert witness costs.

The appearance fee for a stenographer shall be shared equally by the applicant and the Board. 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.

Members of the Board may receive compensation for the performance of their duties as may be fixed by the Borough Council, but in no case shall it exceed the rate of compensation authorized to be paid to the members of the Borough Council. Within the limits of funds appropriated by the Borough Council, the Board may employ or contract for secretaries, clerks, legal counsel, consultants and other technical and clerical services.

No person shall file any proceeding before the Zoning Hearing Board later than 30 days after a preliminary or final application for development has been approved by an appropriate Borough 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 they had no notice, knowledge or reason to believe that such approval had been given. If such person has succeeded to their interest after such approval, they shall be bound by the knowledge of their predecessor in interest.

All appeals from determinations adverse to the landowner shall be filed by the landowner within 30 days’ after notice of the determination is issued.

Upon filing of any proceeding 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 the 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 the zoning appeals to order such persons to post bond as a condition to continuing the proceedings before the Board. The question of whether or not such petition should be granted and the amount of the bond shall be within the sound discretion of the court.

All appeals from decisions rendered by the Zoning Hearing Board shall be taken to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and shall be filed within 30 days after the entry of the decision or, in the case of a deemed decision, within 30 days after the date upon which notice of said deemed decision is given as required by Subsection 908 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code[1] (Act 247, as amended).

Failure to comply with any provision of this chapter or to secure a building/zoning permit prior to the erection, construction, extension, alteration or addition to a building or failure to secure a certificate of use and occupancy for the use or change of use or occupancy of structures or land shall be a violation of this chapter.

Enforcement notice. The enforcement notice shall contain the following information:

Any person, partnership, or corporation who or which has violated or permitted the violation of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Borough, pay a judgment of not more than $500, plus all court costs, including reasonable attorney fees, incurred by the Borough as a result thereof. No judgment shall commence or be imposed, levied or be payable until the date of the determination of a violation by the Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Borough 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 Magisterial District Judge, determining that there has been a violation, further determines that there was a good-faith basis for the person, partnership or corporation violating this chapter 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 Magisterial District Judge, and thereafter, each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation. All judgments, costs and reasonable attorney fees collected for the violation of this chapter shall be paid over to the Borough.

The court, upon petition, may grant an order of stay, upon cause shown, tolling the per diem fine pending a final adjudication of the violation and judgment.

Nothing contained in this section shall be construed or interpreted to grant to any person or entity other than the Borough the right to commence any action for enforcement pursuant to this section.

In case any building or structure is erected, constructed, reconstructed, altered, repaired, converted or maintained or any building or structure or land is used in violation of this chapter or of any ordinance or other regulation made under authority conferred hereby, the Borough Council or, with the approval of the Borough Council, the Zoning Officer or other proper official, in addition to other remedies, may institute in the name of the Borough any appropriate action or proceeding to prevent, restrain, correct or abate such unlawful erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, conversion, maintenance or use, to prevent the occupancy of any building, structure or land, or to prevent any illegal act, conduct, business or use that constitutes a violation.