A. Notice of Hearings. Public notice of all hearings of the Zoning Hearing Board shall be given as follows:
 

(1) Notice to the public shall be published once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township.
 

(a) The first publication shall not be more than 30 days and second publication shall not be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.

(b) The notice shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature of the matter to be considered.

(2) Written notice of such hearing shall be conspicuously posted on the affected tract of land at least one week prior to the hearing.

(3) Written notice shall be given, by personally delivering or mailing a copy of the published notice, to: see § 27-2605.1A(3) for the mailing list.

 

(4) The Board of Commissioners may, by resolution, establish a reasonable fee schedule, based on cost, to be paid by the applicant for any notice required by this chapter and by persons requesting any notice not required by ordinance.
 

B. Hearings by the Zoning Hearing Board. The first hearing before the Zoning Hearing Board shall be commenced within 60 days of receipt of the applicants application, unless the applicant has agreed in writing to an extension of time. Each subsequent hearing before the Zoning Hearing Board shall be held within 45 days of the prior hearing, unless otherwise agreed to by the applicant in writing or on the record. An applicant shall complete the presentation of his/her case-in-chief within 100 days of the first hearing. Upon request of the applicant, the Zoning Hearing Board shall assure that the applicant receives at least seven hours of hearings within 100 days, including the first hearing. Persons opposed to the application shall complete the presentation of their opposition to the application within 100 days of the first hearing held after the completion of applicant's case-in-chief. An applicant may, on request, be granted additional hearings to complete his/her case-in-chief provided the persons opposed to the application are granted an equal number of additional hearings. Persons opposed to the application may, upon written consent or consent on the record by the applicant and the municipality, be granted additional hearings to complete their opposition to the application provided the applicant is granted an equal number of additional hearings for rebuttal. The hearings shall be conducted by the Zoning Hearing Board and the decision and findings shall be made by the Zoning Hearing Board. The provisions of this paragraph shall also be applicable to the Board of Commissioners when conducting hearings upon applications for conditional uses (see § 27-2403, Subsection 1.J, of this chapter).

C. Parties.

(1) The parties to the hearing shall be the Township, any person affected by the application who has made timely appearance of record before the Zoning Hearing Board, and any person including civic or community organizations permitted to appear by the Zoning Hearing Board.

(2) The Zoning Hearing Board shall have the power to require that all persons who wish to be considered parties enter appearances in writing on forms provided by the Zoning Hearing Board for that purpose.

D. Oaths and Subpoenas. The chairman or acting chairman of the Zoning Hearing Board presiding shall have power to administer oaths and issue subpoenas to complete the attendance of the production of relevant documents and papers, including witnesses and documents requested by the parties.

E. Representation by Counsel. 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.

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

G. Record.

(1) The Zoning Hearing 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 Zoning Hearing Board.

(2) The cost of the original transcript shall be paid by the Zoning Hearing Board if the transcript is ordered by the Zoning Hearing Board or shall be paid by the person appealing from the decision of the Zoning Hearing 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.

H. Ex Parte Communications. See § 27-2605.1H for details.

I. Conflicts of Interest. No member of the Zoning Hearing Board shall vote upon or participate in deliberations concerning any application for which the member has a conflict of interest or for which such note or participation would give the appearance of a conflict of interest.

J. Referral to Planning Commission. See § 27-2605.1J for details.

K. Decision/Findings. See § 27-2605.1K for detailed information.

L. Notice of Decision.

(1) A copy of the final decision, or a copy of the findings (when no decision is called for), shall be delivered to the applicant personally or mailed to him not later than the date following its date.

(2) The Zoning Hearing Board shall provide (by mail or otherwise) a brief notice of the decision or findings and a statement of the place where the full decision or findings may be examined to all other persons who have filed their name and addresses with the Zoning Hearing Board not later than the last day of the hearing.

(3) When a decision has been rendered in favor of the applicant because of the failure of the Zoning Hearing Board to meet or render a decision as described in Subsections 1.A(1) and 1.J(4), the Township 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.A. If the Zoning Hearing Board shall fail to provide such notice, the applicant may do so.