Thornburg City Zoning Code

Appointment of Alternate Members. Borough Council may appoint by resolution at least one, but no more than three, residents of the Borough to serve as alternate members of the Board. The term of office of an alternate member shall be three years. When seated pursuant to the provisions of Subsection 2, an alternate shall be entitled to participate in all proceedings and discussions of the Board to the same and full extent as provided by law for Board members, including specifically the right to cast a vote as a voting member during the proceedings, and shall have all the power and duties set forth in this chapter and as otherwise provided by law. Alternates shall hold no other office in the Borough, including membership on the Planning Commission and Zoning Officer. Any alternate may participate in any proceedings or discussion of the Board but shall not be entitled to vote as a member of the Board unless designated as a voting alternate member pursuant to Subsection 2 of this chapter.

Participation by Alternate Members. 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 subsection shall be made on a case by case basis in rotation according to declining seniority among all alternates.

The Zoning Hearing Board shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and render final adjudication in the following matters:

The Board, upon appeal, shall have the power to authorize variances from the requirements of this chapter, and to attach such conditions to the variance as it deems necessary to assure compliance with the purposes of this chapter. A variance may be granted, if all of the following findings are made where relevant in a given case:

In granting any variance, the Board may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards as it may deem necessary to implement the purposes of this chapter and protect the public health, safety and welfare.

Where the Board fails to render a decision within 45 days of the date of the last hearing or fails to hold the required hearing within 60 days submission of a complete and properly filed application 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 failure of the Board to meet or render a decision, the Board shall give public notice of the decision within 10 days from the last day it could have met to render a decision. If the Board shall fail to provide such notice, the applicant may do so. Nothing in this section shall prejudice the right of any party opposing the application to appeal the decision to the Court of Common Pleas.

Parties to proceedings authorized in this chapter may utilize mediation as an aid in completing such proceedings. In proceedings before the Zoning Hearing Board, in no case shall the Zoning Hearing Board initiate mediation or participate as a mediating party. Mediation shall supplement, not replace, those procedures in this chapter once they have been formally initiated. Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted as expanding or limiting municipal police powers or as modifying any principles of substantive law.

Participation in mediation shall be wholly voluntary. The appropriateness of mediation shall be determined by the particulars of each case and the willingness of the parties to negotiate. Any municipality offering the mediation option shall assure that in each case, the mediating parties, assisted by the mediator as appropriate, develop terms and conditions for:

No offers or statements made in the mediation sessions, excluding the final written mediated agreement, shall be admissible as evidence in any subsequent judicial or administrative proceedings.

Fees. Borough Council may prescribe reasonable fees with respect to hearings before the Zoning Hearing Board. Fees for said hearings may include compensation for the secretary and 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 Zoning Hearing Board, expenses for engineering, architectural or other technical consultants or expert witness costs.

Stenographer's Appearance Fee and Transcripts. 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 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.

Expenditures. Members of the Board may receive compensation for the performance of their duties as may be fixed by the participating Borough Councils, but in no case shall it exceed the rate of compensation authorized to be paid to the members of the participating Borough Councils. Borough Council shall budget funds for the Board to employ or contract for secretaries, clerks, legal counsel, consultants and other technical and clerical services.

No person shall file any proceeding before the Zoning Hearing Board later than 30 days after a preliminary or final application for development has been approved by an appropriate Borough 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 by a Zoning Officer on a challenge to the validity of an ordinance or map filed pursuant to § 916.2 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10916.2, shall preclude an appeal from a final approval except in the case where the final submission substantially deviates from the approved tentative approval.

A landowner may file an appeal from determinations adverse to the landowner within 30 days after notice of the determination is issued.

Upon filing of any proceeding 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 the zoning appeals to order such persons to post bond as a condition to continuing the proceedings before the Board. 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.

All appeals from decisions rendered by the Zoning Hearing Board shall be taken to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and shall be filed within 30 days after the entry of the decision or, in the case of a deemed decision, within 30 days after the date upon which notice of said deemed decision is given as required by § 908(9) of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10908(9), as amended.