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, but the Board may appoint a hearing officer from its own membership to conduct any hearing on its behalf and may waive further action by the Board as provided in § 908 of the Municipalities Planning Code and § 27-502 of this chapter.

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 provide 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 determination of the matter or case. Designation of an alternate pursuant to this paragraph shall be made on a case-by-case basis in rotation according to declining seniority among all alternates.

The Board may make, alter, and rescind rules and forms for its procedure, consistent with ordinances of the 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 a report of its activities to Council as requested by Council.

Special Exceptions. To hear and decide special exceptions upon which the Board is required to pass under the Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., and § 27-504 of this chapter.

Variances. To authorize, upon application, in specific cases, variances from the terms of this chapter, under the provisions of the Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., and § 27-503 of this chapter.

Appeals. To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged that there is error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by the Zoning Officer in the enforcement or interpretation of this chapter.

Challenges to the Validity of the Ordinance or Map. The Board shall hear challenges to the validity of any land use ordinance of the Borough, including this chapter, which include: (1) substantive challenges except for those brought before Borough Council pursuant to §§ 609.1 and 916.1(a, b) of the Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. §§ 10609.1, 10916.1(a, b); and (2) challenges raising procedural questions or alleged defects in the process of enactment of adoption, which challenges shall be raised by an appeal taken within 30 days after the effective date of that ordinance. In all challenges, the Board shall take evidence and make a record as provided in § 27-502 of this chapter. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Board shall decide all contested questions and shall make findings on all relevant issues of fact which shall become part of the record on appeal to the court.

Unified Appeals. Where the Board has jurisdiction over a zoning matter, the Board shall also hear all appeals which an applicant may elect to bring before it with respect to any Borough ordinance or requirement pertaining to the same development plan or development. In any such case the Board shall have no power to pass upon the nonzoning issues, but shall take evidence and make a record thereon as provided in § 27-502. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Board shall make findings on all relevant issues of fact which shall become part of the record on appeal to the court.

In exercising the powers referred to in this subsection, the Board, in conformity with the provisions of this chapter, may reverse, affirm, or modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination appealed from or requested, and may make any order, requirement, decision, or determination as ought to be made.

The Zoning Hearing Board shall give public notice, as defined in § 27-203 of this chapter, of every hearing on an application or appeal and shall also give written notice of that hearing and posted notice as required in this subsection. In all instances, the notice shall state the nature of the request for the hearing, the location of the property and the time and place set for the hearing. In addition to the public notice, the following are required:

Council may establish reasonable fees, based on cost of notice, to be paid by the applicant and by persons requesting any notice to them not required by this chapter.

Every hearing shall be held within 60 days from the date of the applicant request, unless the applicant has agreed in writing to an extension of time.

The hearings shall be conducted by the Board or the Board may appoint any member as a hearing officer. The decision, or, where no decision is called for, the findings, shall be made by the Board, but the appellant or the applicant, as the case may be, in addition to the Borough, may, prior to the decision of the hearing, waive decision or findings by the Board and accept the decision of the hearing officer as final.

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

The Board or the hearing officer shall not communicate, directly or indirectly, with any party or his representatives in connection with any issue 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 their solicitors, unless the 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.

Parties to the hearings shall be the Borough, any person affected by the application who has made 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 the power to require that all persons who wish to be considered parties to enter appearances in writing on forms provided by the Board for that purpose.

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

Statements are to be given in the following order or as the Chairman may direct:

The applicant or appellant must be given an opportunity for rebuttal.

The Board or the hearing officer, as the case may be, shall render a written decision or, when no decision is called for, make written findings on the application within 45 days after the last hearing before the Board or hearing officer. Where 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 provision of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., or of any ordinance, rule or regulation shall contain a reference to the provision relied on and the reasons why the conclusion is deemed appropriate in the light of the facts found. If the hearing is conducted by a hearing officer, and there has been no stipulation that his decision of findings is final, the Board shall make his report and recommendations available to the parties within 45 days and the parties shall be entitled to make written representations thereon to the Board prior to the final decision or entry of findings, and the Board's decision shall be entered no later than 30 days after the report of the hearing officer. Where the Board fails to render the decision within the period required by this subsection, or fails to hold the required hearing within 60 days from the date 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 the failure of the Board to meet or render a decision as hereinabove 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 in Subsection 1 of this section. If the Board fails to provide such notice, the applicant may do so. Nothing in this subsection shall prejudice the right of any party opposing the application to appeal the decision to a court of competent jurisdiction.

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

Whenever the Board imposes a condition or conditions with respect to the granting of an application or appeal, this condition must be stated in the order of the Board and in the permit issued pursuant to the order by the Zoning Officer. This permit remains valid only as long as the condition or conditions upon which it was granted or the conditions imposed by this chapter are adhered to.

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 of the 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.

A verbatim record of the hearing shall be taken when:

The Board must provide for the taking of a verbatim records of testimony by electronic or other means and by rules drawn to protect the integrity of these records. However, the Board may adopt, as the official record, a verbatim record of testimony made by a court reporter or other verbatim reporter considered qualified by the Board. Where the Board has made a verbatim record of testimony at a public hearing, it must provide copies at cost to any person who requests the record within 48 hours after the hearing.

Any costs assessed under the authority of this section are in addition to the fees for application or appeal. The Board must keep all materials and decision relating to each case as part of its record. These records, however, are open to public inspection.

An application may be made to the Zoning Hearing Board for a variance where it is alleged that the provisions of this chapter inflict unnecessary hardship upon the applicant. The application must be on a form provided for that purpose by the Zoning Officer. It must be filed with the Board and copies given to the Zoning Officer and Borough Planning Commission. The applicant must provide all the information and data that may be required to advise the Board of the variance, whether such information is called for by the official form or not.

Unless otherwise specified or extended by the Board, a variance authorized by it expires if the applicant fails to obtain a zoning permit or use certificate within six months from the date of authorization of the variance.

That there are unique physical circumstances or conditions, including irregularity, narrowness, or shallowness of lot size or shape, or exceptional topographical or other physical conditions peculiar to the particular property, and that the unnecessary hardship is due to such conditions and not the circumstances or conditions generally created by the provisions of this chapter in the neighborhood or zone in which the property is located.

That because of such physical circumstances or conditions, there is no possibility that the property can be developed in strict conformity with the provisions of this chapter and that the authorization of a variance is therefore necessary to enable the reasonable use of the property.

That such unnecessary hardship has not been created by the appellant.

That the variance, if authorized, will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood or zone in which the property is located, nor substantially or permanently impair the appropriate use or development of adjacent property, nor be detrimental to the public welfare.

That the variance, if authorized, will represent the minimum variance that will afford relief and will represent the least modification possible of the regulation in issue.

For any use permitted by special exception, a special exception must be obtained from the Zoning Hearing Board. In addition to the information required on the zoning permit application, the special exception application must show:

Unless otherwise specified or extended by the Zoning Hearing Board, a special exception authorized by the Board expires if the applicant fails to obtain, where required to do so, a zoning permit or use certificate within six months of the date of the authorization of the special exception.

A temporary special exception must be obtained from the Zoning Hearing Board for any nonconformity which is or will be seasonal or is or will be in the public interest. The Zoning Hearing Board may grant a temporary special exception for a nonconforming use or structure, existing or new, which:

The temporary special exception may be issued for a period not exceeding one year and may be renewed for an aggregate period not exceeding three years. The nonconforming structure or use must be completely removed upon the expiration of the special exception without cost to the Borough.

The proposed use, including its nature, intensity, and location, is in harmony with the orderly and appropriate development of the zone.

That adequate water supply, sewage disposal, storm drainage and fire and police protection are or can be provided for the use.

That the use of adjacent land and buildings will not be discouraged and the value of adjacent land and buildings will not be impaired by the location, nature, and height of buildings, walls, and fences.

That the use will have proper location with respect to existing or future streets giving access to it and will not create traffic congestion or cause industrial or commercial traffic to use residential streets.

That the specific standards set forth for each particular use for which a special exception may be granted have been met. The applicant for a special exception shall have the burden of proof, which shall include the burden of going forward with the evidence and the burden of persuasion on all questions of fact which are to be determined by the Zoning Hearing Board.