1. Amendment procedure.
A. The Board of Supervisors, by motion passed at a regular or special meeting, shall fix the date, time and place of a public hearing on any proposed amendment and shall:
(1) Provide public notice thereof as required by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended.[1]
(2) Conspicuously post notice thereof at points deemed sufficient by the Township along the perimeter of the tract.
(3) Mail a notice thereof to every resident or association of residents of the Township who shall have registered, in writing, their names and addresses for this purpose with the Township Manager on or after January 1 of the calendar year when said public hearing is held but prior to the conclusion of any such public hearing. Any such registration of name(s) effected prior to January 1 of any calendar year in which a public hearing on a proposed amendment is held will not be recognized as a registration for the purpose of this section.
(4) Mail a notice thereof to the owner, owners or occupiers of every lot within 500 feet of an area or areas whose zoning classification is proposed to be changed, if their residence is known.
B. Said notice shall state the general nature of the proposed amendment and that full opportunity to be heard will be given to any citizen and all parties in interest attending such hearing.
2. Application for amendment by citizen.
Every application for amendment of the Zoning Ordinance shall first be presented to the Zoning Officer and shall contain the following:
A. The applicant's name and address, and his representative and the interest of every person represented in the application.
B. A plan showing the extent of the area to be rezoned, street bounding and intersecting the area, the land use and zone classification of abutting districts, and photographs of the area to be rezoned and abutting areas.
C. A statement of the circumstances in the proposed district and the abutting districts and any other factors on which the applicant relies as reasons for supporting the proposed rezoning.
D. The approximate time schedule for the beginning and completion of development in the area.
E. A site plan to scale, indicating the location of structures, uses, areas for off-street parking and loading.
F. Information about the market area to be served by the proposed development, if a commercial use, including population, effective demand for proposed business facilities, and any other information describing the relationship of the proposed development to the needs of the market area as the Zoning Officer, Planning Commission or governing body shall prescribe.
3. Petition.
Whenever the owners of 50% or more of the property owners within any district or the property owners of property fronting on the same street or streets or abutting on the property sought to be changed, and situate within 1,000 feet of the property sought to be changed, shall present to the Board of Supervisors a petition duly signed and acknowledged, requesting an amendment, supplement, change, modification or repeal of the regulations prescribed, or of the Zoning Map, including such district, it shall be the duty of the Board of Supervisors to hold a public hearing thereon and cause notice thereof to be given in the manner prescribed in
§ 116-237: Amendment procedure herein.
See
Petitions for more information.
4. Referral to Planning Commission.
In the case of an amendment other than that prepared by the Township's Planning Commission, the Board of Supervisors shall submit each such amendment to the Township's Planning Commission and other technical agencies, such as the Montgomery County Planning Commission, at least 30 days prior to the hearing on such proposed amendment to provide these planning agencies an opportunity to submit recommendations.
5. Citizens' protest against amendment.
In case of a protest against such amendment, change, modification or repeal, signed by the owners of 20% or more, either of the area or the lots included in such proposed changes or of those situated within 1,000 feet of the property, such amendment, supplement, change or modification shall not become effective except by the favorable vote of 2/3 of all the members of the governing body.
6. Fees for amendment applications and legal and engineering costs.
A. For the purpose of defraying expenses of advertising, etc., applications for amendments shall be accompanied by cash payments to the Township in accordance with a fee schedule adopted by resolution of the Board of Supervisors upon the enactment of this chapter or as such schedule may be amended by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
B. Legal and engineering costs. It shall be the obligation of any person or persons who apply to or petition the Board of Supervisors for a change of zoning classification of the Zoning Map or for modification of any provisions of the Zoning Code, including a petition for a curative amendment, to reimburse the Township for all legal, engineering or other expenses reasonably incurred by the Township in processing and considering said petition; provided, however, that where litigation occurs in any manner related to any such application or petition, the person or persons making such application or petition shall be responsible only for legal fees related to such litigation as the court shall assess in the matter as a part of its verdict.
7. Posting of notice.
If any person or persons who have an interest (as legal or equitable owner or lessee, contingent or otherwise) in any tract, apply for an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance, which change would affect said tract, such person or persons shall cause a sign or signs to be posted upon each street upon which the tract has frontage; such sign or signs shall conform to the following requirements:
A. The face of each sign shall contain a minimum of 12 square feet and a maximum of 24 square feet of area.
B. A sign shall be posted upon the subject tract within 15 feet of the existing right-of-way of each street upon which the tract has frontage.
C. Each sign shall be erected parallel to the street and shall be erected so that its face shall be unobstructed and clearly visible from the street upon which it is posted. The precise location of each sign shall be approved by the Township Supervisors who shall not unreasonably withhold such approval.
D. The sign shall be white and contain black letters and numbers which shall be clearly legible from the street upon which the sign is posted; all of such letters and numbers shall be at least four inches in height and two inches in width.
E. The sign shall contain the following language:
"Notice is hereby given that application has been made to change the zoning of this tract from __________ to __________; the tract contains __________ acres. A hearing on the application scheduled for __________ in the Whitemarsh Township Building at 616 Germantown Pike, at __________ p.m."
The blank spaces shall be filled with the present zoning district, the proposed zoning district, the number of acres affected by the application for rezoning, the date of the hearing and the hour of the hearing, respectively.
F. Any such sign shall be erected at least 20 days prior to the original hearing on such application and shall be removed within five days after the original hearing on such application.
G. If any sign required hereunder is not erected as herein provided, the Township may cause such sign to be prepared and erected, and all reasonable expenses incurred by the Township shall be reimbursed by the applicant prior to the original hearing on the application.
H. The provisions of this section shall apply in all districts, and the signs required hereunder shall be in addition to the maximum number of signs permitted on any property, other provisions of this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding.
I. Persons erecting signs under this section shall not be required to obtain sign permits or pay a sign permit fee.
