The 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 the members of the Board. The Board, however, 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 Board as provided in § 465-1506. If by any reason of absence or disqualification of a member, a quorum is not reached, the Chairman of the Board shall designate the alternate member of the Board to be seated to establish a quorum. The 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.

The Board may make, alter and rescind rules and forms for its procedure, consistent with ordinances of Lansford Borough and laws of the commonwealth. The Board shall keep full public records of its business, which records shall be the property of the Borough, and shall submit an annual report of its activities to the Borough Council.

Notice of hearings before the Board shall be by public notice; a notice published once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the Borough. Such notice shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature of matters to be considered at the hearing by the Board. The first publication shall not be more than 30 days and the second publication shall not be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.

Written notice of all hearings before the Board shall be conspicuously posted on the affected property not less than one week prior to the hearing.

The Borough Council may prescribe reasonable fees with respect to hearings before the Board. Fees for said hearings may include compensation for the secretary and, if applicable, 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 Board or expenses for engineering, architectural or other technical consultants or expert witnesses.

The first hearing shall be held within 60 days from the date of the applicant's request, unless the applicant has agreed in writing to an extension of time. The sixty-day time period shall not commence until the applicant has submitted a properly completed application, with all required signatures and all required fees. Each subsequent hearing shall be held within 45 days of the prior hearing, unless otherwise agreed to by the applicant in writing or on the record. Any party aggrieved by the schedule or progress of the hearings may apply to the Court of Common Pleas for relief. The hearing shall be completed no later than 100 days after the completion of the applicant's case in chief unless extended for good cause upon application to the Court of Common Pleas.

Hearings 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, unless the appellant or applicant, as the case may be, in addition to the Borough, agrees to waive any decision or findings by the Board and accept the decision or findings of the hearing officer as final. If the decision or findings of the hearing officer are to be accepted as final, all parties to the hearing must agree to such stipulation at the outset of the hearing.

The parties to the hearing shall be the Borough, any person affected by the application who has made a timely appearance of record before the Board, and any other person including civic or community organizations permitted to appear by the Board. The Board shall have power to require that all persons who wish to be considered parties to the hearing enter appearances in writing on forms provided by the Board for such purpose.

The presiding Chairman or acting Chairman of the Board or hearing officer shall have the power to administer oaths and issue subpoenas to compel attendance of witnesses and the production of relevant documents and papers, including witnesses and documents requested by parties to the hearing.

The parties to the hearing shall have the right to be represented by legal counsel and shall be afforded the opportunity to respond and present evidence and arguments and to cross-examine adverse witnesses on all relevant issues.

Formal rules of evidence shall not apply, but irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence may be excluded.

The Board or the hearing officer, as the case may be, shall keep a stenographic record of the proceedings. 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 the event the cost of additional copies shall be paid by the person requesting such copies. In other cases the party requesting the original transcript shall bear the cost thereof.

The Board, collectively or individually, or the hearing officer, as the case may be, shall not communicate directly or indirectly with any party or his representatives in connection with any issue before the Board involved except upon notice and opportunity for all parties to participate, shall not take notice of any communication, reports, staff memoranda, or other materials, except advice from its solicitor, unless all parties are afforded an opportunity to contest the material so noticed and shall not inspect the site or its surroundings after the commencement of hearings with any party or his representative unless all parties are given an opportunity to be present.

The Board or the hearing officer, as the case may be, shall render a written decision or, if no decision is called for, make written findings on the application within 45 days after the last hearing before the Board or hearing officer. If the application is contested or denied, each 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 other ordinance, rule or regulation, shall contain a reference to the provisions relied upon and the reasons why the conclusion is deemed appropriate in light of the facts 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 his report and recommendations available to the parties of record within 45 days. The parties shall be entitled to make written representations thereon to the Board prior to final decision or entry of findings, with the Board's decision entered no later than 30 days after the report of the hearing officer. If the Board fails to commence, conduct or complete the required hearing as provided for under § 465-1506D, 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. If a decision has been rendered in favor of the applicant because of their failure of the Board to meet or render a decision as herein above provided, the Board shall give public notice of said decision within 10 days from the last day it could have met to render a decision in the same manner as provided under § 465-1506A and written notice of the decision shall be mailed to those parties identified under § 465-1506B. If the Board fails to provide such notice, the applicant may do so. Nothing contained within this section shall prejudice the right of any party opposing the application to appeal the decision to a court of competent jurisdiction.

In any appeal of an enforcement notice under § 465-1304A of this chapter, the Zoning Hearing Board shall require that the Zoning Officer and/or Borough provide its evidence first to the Board regarding the basis, nature and supporting information regarding the subject enforcement notice. Upon the conclusion of the same, the appealing party shall provide the Board with his/her evidence in contesting the subject enforcement notice. Any filing fees paid by a party to appeal an enforcement notice to the Zoning Hearing Board shall be returned to said party if the Zoning Hearing Board or any subsequent court rules in favor of the appealing party.

The final decision or, where no decision is called for, the findings shall be rendered by the Zoning Hearing Board at a public hearing. A copy of the written decision or findings shall be delivered to the applicant personally or mailed to him not later than the day following the date of the Board's decision or findings. The Zoning Hearing Board shall provide by mail or otherwise to all persons who have filed their name and address with the Board, not later than the last day of the hearing, a statement of brief notice of the decision or findings and a statement of the place at which a copy of the full decision or findings may be examined.

Mediation may be utilized as an aid designed to supplement, as opposed to replacing, any proceedings before and under the jurisdiction of the Zoning Hearing Board. In no case, however, shall the Board or any member of the Board initiate the use of mediation. No member of the Board shall be allowed to participate as a mediating party or be present during any sessions of mediation. Nothing within this section shall be interpreted as expanding or limiting municipal police powers or modifying any principles of substantive law.

Mediation shall be voluntary among all subject parties with the appropriateness of mediation determined by the particular issues of each case and the willingness among all the subject parties to negotiate. In order to supplement proceedings before the Zoning Hearing Board, the following information shall be submitted to the Board in written form and signed by all parties to the mediation, the selected mediator, and the Zoning Hearing Board.

Substantive challenges to the validity of any land use ordinance, except for those brought before the Borough Council under § 465-1403A of this chapter.[2]

Appeals from the determination of the Zoning Officer, including but not limited to the application and/or interpretation of regulations, granting or denial of any permit, or failure to act on the application therefor, the issuance of any cease and desist order, the revocation of a zoning permit/or building permit or the registration of or refusal to register any nonconforming use, structure or lot.

Appeals from a determination by the municipal engineer or the Zoning Officer with reference to the administration of any floodplain or flood hazard ordinance provision or regulation within any land use ordinance.

Applications for variances, pursuant to § 465-1509 of this chapter.

Applications for special exceptions pursuant to § 465-1510 of this chapter.

Appeals from the determination of the Zoning Officer or municipal engineer in the administration of any land use ordinance or provision thereof with reference to sedimentation and erosion control and stormwater management not related to development which is classified as a subdivision, land development, or a planned residential development.

Initial determination by Zoning Officer. An application for a variance shall not be submitted to or considered by the Zoning Hearing Board until the following procedure has been completed:

Provisions for granting variances.

Initial determination by Zoning Officer. An application for a special exception use shall not be submitted to or considered by the Zoning Hearing Board until the following procedure has been completed:

Provisions for granting a special exception approval.

No person shall be allowed to file any proceeding with the Zoning Hearing Board later than 30 days after an application for the development, preliminary or final, has been approved by an appropriate municipal 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 on a tentative plan for a planned residential development, pursuant to Section 709 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247, as amended, or from an adverse decision by a Zoning Officer on a challenge to the validity of an ordinance or map based upon substantive grounds, pursuant to Section 916.2 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247, as amended, shall preclude an appeal from a final approval except in the case where the final submission substantially deviates from the approved tentative approval.

Any landowner wishing to appeal a decision of the Zoning Hearing Board shall be required to file such appeal to a court of competent jurisdiction within 30 days after the notice of the Board's determination is issued. Failure to do so within the prescribed thirty-day time period shall preclude any further appeal of the Board's decision.

Upon filing of any proceeding referred to in § 465-1508 of this chapter, and during its pendency before the Zoning Hearing 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 the 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 a bond as a condition to continuing the proceedings before the Board.

After the petition is presented, the court shall hold a hearing to determine if the filing of the appeal is frivolous. At the hearing, evidence may be presented on the merits of the case. It shall be the burden of the applicant for a bond to prove the appeal is frivolous. After consideration of all the evidence presented, if the court determines that the appeal is frivolous, it shall grant the petition for a bond. The right to petition the court to order the appellants to post bond may be waived by the appellee, but such waiver may be revoked by him if an appeal is taken from a final decision of the court.

The question whether or not such petition should be granted and the amount of the bond shall be within the sound discretion of the court. An order denying a petition for bond shall be interlocutory. An order directing the responding party to post a bond shall be interlocutory.

If an appeal is taken by a respondent to the petition for a bond from an order of the court dismissing a zoning appeal for refusal to post a bond and the appellate court sustains the order below to post a bond, the respondent to the petition for a bond, upon motion of the petitioner and after hearing in the court having jurisdiction of zoning appeals, shall be liable for all reasonable costs, expenses, and attorney fees incurred by the petitioner.