East Earl Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXIII
Amendments
§ 450-177 Ordinance amendments.
The East Earl Township Board of Supervisors may from time to time as hereinafter provided, amend, supplement, change, or repeal the Zoning Ordinance or the Official Zoning Map of the Township. Any amendment, supplement, change, or repeal may be initiated by the Board of Supervisors, the Township Planning Commission, or by a petition to the Board of Supervisors by an interested party.
§ 450-178 Procedure for petition to Board of Supervisors by an interested party.
A.
Petition requirements. The petition for amendment, supplement, change, or repeal shall be submitted in duplicate to the Board of Supervisors and contain information to identify the petitioner, the amendment, supplement, change, or repeal, and the petitioner's interest in the amendment, supplement, change, or repeal. In instances where the petition requests a change in the boundaries of a Zoning District on the Official Zoning Map, an accurate legal description and surveyed plan of any land to be rezoned shall be provided and shall be signed by at least one record owner of the property in question whose signature shall be notarized attesting to the truth and correctness of all the facts and information presented in the petition. A fee to be established by the Board of Supervisors shall be paid upon the filing of such petition for change and for the purpose of defraying the costs of the proceedings.
B.
Procedure for petition consideration. After receipt of the petition by the Board of Supervisors, it shall forward said petition to the Zoning Officer, who shall simultaneously transmit said petition to the East Earl Township and Lancaster County Planning Commissions for their review and recommendations. A report of the review of the Township Planning Commission, together with any recommendations, shall be given to the Board of Supervisors in writing within 30 days from the date of said referral. The recommendation of the Township Planning Commission shall include a specific statement as to whether or not the proposed action is in accordance with the intent of the ELANCO Regional Comprehensive Plan, dated August 2008. The submission of the proposed amendment to the Lancaster County Planning Commission shall occur at least 30 days prior to any Township public hearing that is to be held on the amendment.
C.
Petition exempted from standard procedure. When the Zoning Officer determines that the petition for change is substantially the same as a petition submitted within six months previous, he shall transmit the petition to the Board of Supervisors who shall instruct the Zoning Officer to process the petition as specified in this article or, stating their reasons, refuse to take further action on the petition.
§ 450-179 Amendment initiated by Planning Commission.
When an amendment, supplement, change, or repeal is initiated by the Township Planning Commission, a report of the proposed amendment, supplement, change, or repeal shall be presented to the Zoning Officer. Said proposal shall be processed in the same manner as a petition filed under § 450-178, with the exception that no review of the petition is required by the Township Planning Commission.
§ 450-180 Amendment initiated by Board of Supervisors.
When an amendment, supplement, change, or repeal is initiated by the Board of Supervisors, said proposal shall be processed in the same manner as a petition filed under § 450-178 of this Zoning Ordinance.
§ 450-181 Curative amendment by landowner.
A.
Procedure.
(1)
A landowner who desires to challenge, on substantive grounds, the validity of the Zoning Ordinance or the Official Zoning Map of the Township or any provision thereof which prohibits or restricts the use or development of land in which he has an interest, may submit a curative amendment to the Board of Supervisors with a written request that his challenge and proposed amendment be heard and decided as provided in Section 916.1 of the MPC.[1] The Board of Supervisors shall commence a hearing thereon within 60 days of the request. The curative amendment shall be processed in accordance with § 450-178 of this Zoning Ordinance, and public notice of the hearing shall be as provided for in § 450-184 of this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10916.1.
(2)
If the Township does not accept a landowner's curative amendment brought in accordance with this subsection 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, and only to the extent of relief granted by the court.
(3)
When the Board of Supervisors has determined 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:
(a)
The impact of the proposal upon roads, sewer facilities, water supplies, schools, and other public service facilities;
(b)
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;
(c)
The suitability of the site for the intensity of use proposed by the site's soils, slopes, woodlands, wetlands, floodplains, aquifers, natural resources, and other natural features;
(d)
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; and
(e)
The impact of the proposal on the preservation of agriculture and other land uses which are essential to public health and welfare.
§ 450-182 Curative amendment by Board of Supervisors.
A.
Procedure.
(1)
If Board of Supervisors determines that this chapter or a portion of it is substantively invalid, the Board of Supervisors shall declare by formal action its Zoning Ordinance or portions thereof substantively invalid and propose to prepare a curative amendment to overcome such invalidity. Within 30 days following such declaration, the Board of Supervisors shall:
(2)
Within 180 days from the date of the declaration and proposal, the Board of Supervisors shall enact a curative amendment to, or reaffirm the validity of, this Zoning Ordinance pursuant to the provisions required by § 450-178 to cure the declared invalidity of the Zoning Ordinance.
(3)
Upon the date of the declaration and proposal, the Board of Supervisors shall not be required to entertain or consider any curative amendment filed by a landowner. Nor shall the Zoning Hearing Board be required to give a report, upon request, for a challenge to the validity of the ordinance under § 450-194, subsequent to the declaration and proposal, based upon the grounds identical to or substantially similar to those specified in the resolution required by this section. Upon the enactment of a curative amendment to, or the reaffirmation of the validity of this chapter, no rights to a cure by amendment or challenge 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 the Board of Supervisors propose to prepare a curative amendment.
(4)
The Board of Supervisors, having utilized the procedures as set forth in this section, may not again utilize said procedures for a thirty-six-month period following the date of the enactment of a curative amendment, or reaffirmation of the validity of the ordinance; 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 Pennsylvania Appellate Court decision, the Board of Supervisors may utilize the provisions of this section to prepare a curative amendment to the ordinance to fulfill this duty or obligation.
§ 450-183 Authentication of Zoning Map.
Whenever there has been a change in the boundary of a zoning district or a reclassification of the zoning district adopted in accordance with the above, the change on the Zoning Map shall be made, and shall be duly certified by the Township Secretary and shall thereafter be refiled as part of the permanent records of the Township.
§ 450-184 Public notice.
When any amendment, supplement, change, or repeal which changes the boundaries of any zoning district, changes the uses and structures permitted in a zoning district, or changes the height and area regulations applicable in a zoning district, a public hearing in relation thereto shall be held by the Board of Supervisors at which parties in interest and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard.
A.
Publication, advertisement, and availability of ordinances. 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 municipality 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 governing body 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 to 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 municipality 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.
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 to notify potentially interested citizens. The affected tract or area shall be posted at least one week prior to the date of the hearing.
C.
In the event 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.
D.
Zoning ordinances and amendments may be incorporated into official ordinance books by reference with the same force and effect as if duly recorded therein.
E.
Within 30 days after enactment, a copy of the amendment to the Zoning Ordinance shall be forwarded to the County Planning Agency.