Creation and membership. There is hereby established a Zoning Hearing Board. The membership of the Board shall consist of three residents of the municipality appointed by the Township Commissioners. Their terms of office shall be three years and shall be so fixed that the term of office of one member shall expire each year. The Board shall promptly notify the Township Commissioners of any vacancies which occur. Appointments to fill vacancies shall be only for the unexpired portion of the term. Members of the Board shall hold no other office in the Township, except that no more than one member of the Board may also be a member of the Planning Commission.

Removal of members. Any Board member may be removed for malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance in office or for other just cause by a majority vote of the Township Commissioners, taken after the member has received 15 days' advance notice of the intent to take such a vote. A hearing shall be held in connection with the vote if the member shall request it in writing.

Organization. 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 the parties may waive further action by the Board as provided in § 155-52. The Board may make, alter and rescind rules and forms for its procedure, consistent with ordinances of the Township and laws of the commonwealth. The Board shall keep full public records of its business and shall submit a report of its activities to the Township Commissioners once a year.

Expenses. Within the limits of funds appropriated by the Township, the Board may employ or contract for secretaries, clerks, legal counsel, consultants and other technical and clerical services. Members of the Board may receive compensation for the performance of their duties, as may be fixed by the Township.

Notice shall be given to the public, the applicant, the County Planning Agency, the Zoning Officer, such other persons as the Township shall designate by ordinance and to any person who has made timely request for the same. Notice of hearing shall be given to interested persons by mail sent at least 10 days before the hearing and to the public by advertisement published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township a like period in advance of the hearing.

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 parties may waive decision or findings by the Board and accept the decision or findings of the hearing officer as final.

The parties to the hearing shall be any person who is entitled to notice under Subsection A without special request therefor who has made timely appearance of record before the Board and any other person permitted to appear by the Board.

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

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.

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 record of the proceedings, either stenographically or by sound recording, and a transcript of the proceedings and copies of graphic or written material received in evidence shall be made available to any party at cost.

The Board on 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 unless the parties are afforded an opportunity to contest the material so noticed and shall not inspect the site or its surroundings 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, when no decision is called for, make written findings on the application within 45 days. 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 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 or findings are final, the Board shall make his report and recommendations available to the parties, and the parties shall be entitled to make written recommendations thereon to the Board prior to final decision or entry or findings. Where the Board has power to render a decision and the Board or the hearing officer, as the case may be, fails to render the same within the period required by this subsection, the decision shall be deemed to have been rendered in favor of the applicant.

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 not 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.

Appeals from the Zoning Officer. The Board shall hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that the Zoning Officer has failed to follow prescribed procedures or has misinterpreted or misapplied any provision of a valid ordinance or map or any valid rule or regulation governing the action of the Zoning Officer. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to deny to the appellant the right to proceed directly in court, where appropriate, pursuant to Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure Rules 1091 to 1098 relating to mandamus.

Challenge to the validity of any ordinance or map. Except as provided hereafter in Subsection D relating to variances, the Board shall have no power to pass upon the validity of any provision of an ordinance or map adopted by the Township. Recognizing that challenges to the validity of an ordinance or map present issues of fact and interpretation which may lie within the special competence of the Board and to facilitate speedy disposition of such challenges by a court, the Board may hear all challenges wherein the validity of the ordinance or map represents any issue of fact or of interpretation not hitherto properly determined at a hearing before another competent agency or body and shall take evidence and make a record thereon as provided in § 155-52. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Board shall decide all contested questions of interpretations and shall make findings on all relevant issues of fact which shall become part of the record on appeal to the court.

Challenges to a subdivision and land development ordinance and to a planned residential development ordinance; special rules. Challenges to the validity of a subdivision and land development ordinance or the validity of a planned residential development ordinance, if such ordinances are enacted under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC), P.L. 247, enacted July 31, 1968,[1] and appeals from any action of the Zoning Officer thereunder shall be governed by Subsections A and B above. But when the Planning Commission or Township has held a hearing upon an application for development under the subdivision and land development ordinance or the planned residential development ordinance, such hearing shall be deemed in lieu of a hearing by the Board provided for under Subsection B, and appeal from any decision or determination of the Planning Commission or Township Commissioners (including challenge to the validity of any provisions of such ordinance) shall lie directly to court.

Variances.

Special exceptions. The Board shall hear and decide appeals for special exceptions and may grant exceptions and may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards as it may deem necessary to implement the purposes of this chapter. The following special exceptions, in addition to those otherwise specifically set forth in other parts of this chapter, may be granted:

Parties appellant before Board. Appeals under Subsection A and proceedings to challenge an ordinance under Subsection B may be filed with the Board, in writing, by any officer or agency of the Township or any person aggrieved. Requests for a variance under Subsection D and for special exception under Subsection E may be filed with the Board by any landowner or any tenant with the permission of such landowner.

Time limitations. The time limitations for raising certain issues and filing certain proceedings with the Board shall be the following:

Stay of proceedings. Upon filing of any proceeding referred to in Subsection F 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 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.

Appeal fee. A fee shall be paid at the time an appeal to the Board is taken based on the actual cost of the nonconforming construction. The fee shall be delivered to the Secretary of the Board, who shall forward the fee to the Township Treasurer for the credit of the general revenue fund. No part of the fee shall be refunded to the applicant. Fees shall be as follows: