For the administration of this chapter, a Code Enforcement Officer, who shall not hold any elective office in the Borough of Prospect, shall be appointed.

The Code Enforcement 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 Code Enforcement Officer shall administer this chapter in accordance with its literal terms, and shall not have the power to permit any construction or any use or change of use which does not conform to this chapter.

The Code Enforcement Officer is hereby authorized to institute civil enforcement proceedings as a means of enforcement when acting within the scope of his employment.

A Code Enforcement Officer shall administer and enforce this chapter in accordance with its literal terms. He shall be appointed by and be responsible to Council and shall hold no elective office in the Borough.

The Code Enforcement Officer shall receive and process applications for building permits and permissions to occupy in accordance with Borough ordinances, and shall not permit any construction or any use or change of use which does not conform to this chapter. Occupancy permit fees shall be set, from time to time, by resolution of Borough Council.

The Code Enforcement Officer shall investigate alleged violations and take action to gain compliance with this chapter. He shall also testify before the Zoning Hearing Board on contested decisions he has made. He shall not be denied access to any property in the course of administering and enforcing this chapter.

All questions of interpretation of this chapter shall be first presented to the Code Enforcement Officer, who shall make a decision thereon. Such questions shall be considered by the Zoning Hearing Board only on appeal from the Code Enforcement Officer's decision.

Before the use of a property or structure can be changed, or a commercial property occupied without the need of a building permit, the owner shall secure the approval of the Code Enforcement Officer in writing. Such approval shall be required also whenever a greater number of dwelling units are being installed in a structure, a home occupation is introduced or changed or commercial premises are converted to a second commercial use.

The owner shall be responsible for the use of his property, even though he leases it to others, and for securing the necessary occupancy permission if needed.

If it appears to the Borough of Prospect that a violation of this chapter has occurred, the Borough shall initiate enforcement proceedings by sending an enforcement notice as provided in this section.

The enforcement notice shall be sent to the owner of record of the parcel on which the violation has occurred, to any person who has filed a written request to receive enforcement notices regarding that parcel and to any other person requested, in writing, by the owner of record.

An enforcement notice shall state at least the following:

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 of Prospect, pay a judgment of not more than $500 plus all court costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough of Prospect as a result thereof. No judgment shall commence or be imposed, levied or 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.

The Court of Common Pleas, 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 of Prospect the right to commence any action for enforcement pursuant to this section.

Magisterial District Judges shall have initial jurisdiction over proceedings brought under this section.

Amendments to this chapter shall become effective only after a public hearing held pursuant to public notice. A brief summary setting forth the principal provisions of the proposed amendment and a reference to the place within the Borough where copies of the proposed amendment may be secured or examined shall be incorporated in the public notice. Unless the proposed amendment shall have been prepared by the planning Commission, the Borough Council shall submit the amendment to the planning Commission at least 30 days prior to the hearing on such amendment to provide the Planning Commission an opportunity to submit recommendations. In addition, at least 30 days prior to the public hearing on the amendment, the Borough shall submit the proposed amendment to the County planning agency for recommendations.

Within 30 days after adoption, the Borough Council shall forward a certified copy of the amendment to the County planning agency.

Proposed 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 Borough where copies of the proposed amendment may be examined without charge or obtained for a charge not greater than the cost thereof. The Borough Council shall publish the proposed amendment once in a newspaper of general circulation in the Borough not more than 60 days nor less than seven days prior to passage. Publication of the proposed amendment shall include either the full text thereof or the title and a brief summary, prepared by the Borough Solicitor and setting forth all the provisions in reasonable detail. If the full text is not included:

In the event substantial amendments are made in the proposed amendment, before voting upon enactment, the Borough Council shall, at least 10 days prior to enactment, readvertise 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.

The Borough Council may from time to time amend, supplement or repeal any of the regulations and provisions of this chapter. For the preparation of amendments to zoning ordinances, the procedure set forth in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10607, for the preparation of a proposed zoning ordinance shall be optional.

Before voting on the enactment of a zoning amendment, the Borough Council shall hold a public hearing thereon, pursuant to public notice, and pursuant to mailed notice and electronic notice if applicable per 53 P.S. § 10109. In addition, if the proposed amendment involves a Zoning Map change, notice of said public hearing shall be conspicuously posted by the Borough of Prospect at points deemed sufficient by the Borough along the perimeter of the tract to notify potentially interested citizens. The affected tract or area shall be posted at least one week prior to the date of the hearing.

In the case of an amendment other than that prepared by the Planning Commission the Borough Council shall submit each such amendment to the Planning Commission at least 30 days prior to the hearing on such proposed amendment to provide the Planning Commission an opportunity to submit recommendations.

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

At least 30 days prior to the public hearing on the amendment by the Borough Council, the Borough shall submit the proposed amendment to the County planning agency for recommendations.

Within 30 days after enactment, a copy of the amendment to this chapter shall be forwarded to the County planning agency.

A landowner who desires to challenge on substantive grounds the validity of this chapter or the Zoning Map 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 Borough Council with a written request that his challenge and proposed amendment be heard and decided as provided in Section 916.1 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (hereinafter "MPC"), 53 P.S. § 10916.1. The curative amendment and challenge shall be referred to the Planning Commission and the County planning agency as provided in Section 609 and notice of the hearing thereon shall be given as provided in Sections 610 and 916.1 of the MPC, 53 P.S. §§ 10609, 10610 and 10916.1.

The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with Section 908 of the MPC, 53 P.S. § 10908, and all references therein to the Zoning Hearing Board shall, for purposes of this section be references to the Borough Council. If the Borough 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 this entire chapter and Zoning Map, but only for those provisions which specifically relate to the landowner's curative amendment and challenge.

The Borough Council, if it determines that a validity challenge has merit, may accept a landowner's curative amendment, with or without revision, or may adopt an alternative amendment which 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 of Prospect determines that this chapter, or any portion hereof, is substantially invalid, it shall take the following actions:

Within 180 days from the date of the declaration and proposal, the Borough of Prospect shall enact a curative amendment to validate, or reaffirm the validity of, this chapter pursuant to the provisions of Section 609 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (hereinafter "MPC"), 53 P.S. § 10609, in order to cure the declared invalidity of this chapter.

Upon the initiation of the procedures as set forth in Subsection A above, the Borough Council shall not be required to entertain or consider any landowner's curative amendment filed under Section 609.1 of the MPC, 53 P.S. § 10609.1, nor shall the Zoning Hearing Board be required to give a report requested under Section 909.1 or 916.1 of the MPC, 53 P.S. § 10909.1 or 10916.1, subsequent to the declaration and proposal based upon the grounds identical or substantially similar to those specified by the resolution required by Subsection A(1) above. Upon completion of the procedures set forth in Subsection A(1)(a) and (b) above, no rights to a cure pursuant to the provisions of Section 609.1 and 916.1 of the MPC, 53 P.S. §§ 10609.1 and 10916.1, shall, from the date of the declaration and proposal, accrue to any landowner on the basis of the substantive invalidity of this chapter for which there has been a curative amendment pursuant to this section.

The Borough of Prospect, having utilized the procedures set forth in this section, may not again utilize said procedure for a period of 36 months following the date of enactment of a curative amendment, or reaffirmation of the validity of this chapter; provided, however, if after the date of declaration and proposal there is a substantially new duty imposed upon the Borough by virtue of a change in statute or by virtue of a Pennsylvania Appellate Court decision, the Borough may utilize the provisions of this section to propose a curative amendment to this chapter to fulfill said duty or obligation.

Council shall establish, from time to time, by resolution a schedule of fees to cover the cost of occupancy permits, sign permits, conditional use approvals, petitions to amend the ordinance or any action brought before the Zoning Hearing Board.

The current fee schedule shall be available at the office of the Borough Secretary and may be amended only by official resolution of Council.

No permit shall be issued nor any action taken on proceedings before Council or the Zoning Hearing Board until the appropriate fees have been paid in full.