The Board shall conduct hearings and make decisions in accordance with the following requirements.
A. Public notice of all hearings shall be given and written notice shall be given to the applicant, the Zoning Officer, such other persons as the Board of Township Supervisors shall designate by ordinance 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 written notice of said hearing shall be conspicuously posted on the affected tract of land at least 1 week prior to the hearing.
B. The Board of Township Supervisors may prescribe reasonable fees with respect to hearings before the Board. Fees for said hearing may include compensation for the secretary, notice and advertising costs and necessary administrative services connected with the hearing. The costs shall not include legal expenses of the Board, expenses for engineering, architectural or other technical consultants or expert witness costs.
C. The first hearing shall be held within 60 days from the date of the applicant's request unless the applicant has agreed in writing to an extension of time. Each subsequent hearing before the board or hearing officer 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 case-in-chief within 100 days of the first hearing. Upon the request of the applicant, the board or hearing officer shall assure that the applicant receives at least seven hours of hearings within the 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 the applicant's case-in-chief. An applicant may, upon request, be granted additional hearings to complete his 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 the written consent or consent on the record by the applicant and 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.
D. The decision, or in the case that no decision is called for, the findings shall be made by the Board. However, the applicant may, prior to the decision of the Zoning Hearing Board, waive decision or findings by the Board and accept the decision or findings of the hearing officer as final.
E. The parties to the hearing shall be the Township, 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.
F. The chairperson of the Board or the hearing officer 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.
G. 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.
I. 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 therefore. Conclusions based on any provisions of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended, or 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. Where the Board fails to render the decision within the period required by this Section, 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 (A) of this Section. Nothing in this subsection shall prejudice the right of any party opposing the application to appeal the decision to a court of omnipotent jurisdiction.
J. A copy of the final decision or, where no decision is called for, 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 of findings and a statement of the place at which the full decision or findings may be examined.
(Ord. 3/9/1993B, § 1005)