Appointment. The Zoning Officer shall be appointed by the Township Supervisors to administer and enforce this chapter. Compensation of the Zoning Officer shall be established by the Township Supervisors. The Zoning Officer shall not hold any elective office in the Township.

Duties and powers. It shall be the duty of the Zoning Officer to enforce the provisions of this chapter and the amendments thereto and he shall have such duties and powers as are conferred on him by this chapter and as are reasonably implied for that purpose. The Zoning Officer's duties shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

Requirements. No building or structure, shall be erected, constructed, assembled, extended, moved, or added to nor shall land, buildings and structures be put to any use or additional use or have their use changed without a permit therefor issued by the Zoning Officer. No such permit shall be issued unless there is conformity with the provisions of this chapter, except upon written order from the Zoning Hearing Board in the form of a variance, or upon order from any court of competent jurisdiction. No zoning permit will be required merely because of the sale or lease of a previously existing single-family dwelling.

Application procedures. The application for a zoning permit shall be submitted to the Zoning Officer in writing on a form prescribed by the Zoning Officer. The application shall be submitted by the owner or lessee of any building structure or land or the agent of either; provided, however, that if the application is made by a person other than the owner or lessee, it shall be accompanied by a written authorization from the owner or lessee authorizing the work and designating the agent. The application shall include a written statement by a registered engineer or surveyor that all street lines on the plan have been accurately staked out in the ground and be accompanied by two sets of at least the following information:

Approval or disapproval. Upon receipt of the application and all accompanying information, the Zoning Officer shall examine them to determine compliance with this chapter and all other Township ordinances. Within 30 days from the day he receives the application the Zoning Officer shall either approve or disapprove the application and return one copy of the application and accompanying information containing the Zoning Officers decision and signature to the applicant. The other copy shall be retained by the Zoning Officer. If disapproved, the Zoning Officer shall attach a statement to the application explaining the reasons therefor, indicating the manner in which the application could be corrected and/or modified to obtain approval, and informing the applicant of his rights to appeal.

Issuance and posting of permit. Upon approval of the application by the Zoning Officer and the payment of the fees established from time to time by resolution of the Township Supervisors, the Zoning Officer shall issue a permit which shall be visibly posted on the site of operations during the entire time of construction. The permit shall expire one year from the date of approval of the application by the Zoning Officer, provided that it may be extended at the discretion of the Zoning Officer for one year periods not exceeding a total of two years. A zoning and/or building permit shall expire if the activity which is authorized by the permit is not begun, in the opinion of the Zoning Officer, within one year of issuance of the permit.

Rights of permit holders. The permit shall be a license to proceed with the work described on the approved application in accordance with all Township ordinances. The Zoning Officer shall revoke a permit or approval issued under the provisions of this chapter in case of any false statement or misrepresentation of fact in the application on which the permit or approval was based or for any other cause set forth in this chapter.

Requirements. It shall be unlawful to use and/or occupy any building, structure or land or portion thereof, not including accessory buildings and detached garages associated with residential uses, for which a zoning and/or building permit is required until a zoning compliance certificate has been issued by the Zoning Officer. The Zoning Officer shall not issue a zoning compliance certificate unless he has inspected such building, structure or land and has determined that all provisions of this chapter and other rules, regulations and ordinances of the Township have been complied with.

Issuance.

Temporary certificate of use and occupancy.

Procedure. The following procedures shall be observed prior to making any amendment or change to this chapter or parts thereof, including the Official Zoning Map:

Submission of impact statement. With a request for a zoning amendment initiated by other than the Township Planning Commission or Township Supervisors, a statement indicating the impact of the zoning change on the Township may be required, at the option of the Planning Commission with the application for rezoning. The statement shall compare the impact on the Township resulting from the existing zoning with the impact resulting from the proposed zoning, specifically discussing:

Public hearing.

Curative amendments.

Four copies of an application for permission to conduct a use permitted by condition shall be submitted to the Township Secretary. Such application shall include all information specified for a zoning permit application and any other information necessary to allow the Township Board of Supervisors to determine that all requirements of this chapter have been met. The applicant shall be responsible for all pertinent costs incurred for the review of the application.

Conditional uses shall meet the specific standard established for each use by this chapter and all other applicable zoning district requirements and general regulations established by this chapter. In addition, the following standards shall be met:

The Board of Supervisors shall either approve or disapprove the application within 45 days after the date of the last hearing by the Board of Supervisors.

The Township Board of Supervisors may attach such additional reasonable conditions and safeguards as they deem necessary to implement the purpose of this chapter and the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended.

The granting of permission to conduct a use permitted by condition does not exempt an applicant from acquiring all approvals required by Chapter 450, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Code of the Township of Tilden.

The approval of a conditional use, if authorized by the Board, which anticipates construction or modification of a structure, creation of new or revised lot lines or dimensional standards for a property or structure situated thereon, shall be valid and remain in effect for a term of one year from the date of said approval and shall thereafter expire and be void, unless said construction, modification, new or revised lot lines or dimensional standards or change of use or occupancy be initiated within said one-year term or said term is expressly extended as part of the initial approval. In the event that the activity anticipated by the conditional use should not be initiated within one year of the approval or such additional term as may be expressed in the approval or should the activity which is the subject of the conditional use be discontinued, the premises or structure or structure situated thereon shall not thereafter be used except in conformity with the regulations of the district in which it is located.

Public notice shall be given and written notice shall be given to the applicant, the Zoning Officer, the planning commission, and to any person who has made timely request for the same. Written notices shall be given at such time and in such manner as shall be prescribed by ordinance or, in the absence of ordinance provision, by rules of the Board. In addition to the written notice provided herein, written notice of said hearing shall be conspicuously posted on the affected tract of land at least one week prior to the hearing.

The 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; however, the appellant or the applicant, as the case may be, in addition to the municipality, may, prior to the decision of the hearing, 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 the municipality, 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 power to require that all persons who wish to be considered parties enter appearances in writing on forms provided by the Board for that purpose.

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 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 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.

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 solicitor, 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 date 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, 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 provisions of this act 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 or findings are 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 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. Except for challenges filed under filed under validity or substantive questions, where the Board fails to render the decision within the period required by this subsection or fails to commence, conduct or complete the required hearing as provided in Subsection A(2), 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 A. If the Board shall fail 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 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.

If it appears to the Township Supervisors that a violation of this chapter has occurred, the Township shall initiate enforcement proceedings by sending an enforcement notice as provided for in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended.

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 Township, pay a judgment of not more than $1,000 plus all court costs, including reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the Township as a result thereof. No judgment shall commence or be imposed, levied or be 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 Township 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. All judgments, costs and reasonable attorney's fees collected for the violation of this chapter shall be paid over to the Township.

In case any building, structure, landscaping or land is, or is proposed to be, erected, constructed, reconstructed, altered, converted, maintained or used in violation of any provisions of this chapter, the Zoning Officer, or any aggrieved owner or tenant of real property who shows that his property or person will be substantially effected by the alleged violation, in addition to other remedies, may institute any appropriate action or proceeding to prevent, restrain, correct or abate such building, structure, landscaping or land, or to prevent, in or about such premises, any act, conduct, business or use constituting a violation. When any such action is instituted by a landowner or tenant, notice of that action shall be served upon the Township at least 30 days prior to the time the action is begun by serving a copy of the complaint on the Secretary of the Board of Supervisors. No such action may be maintained until such notice has been given.