A. Notice. Public notice shall be given and written notice shall be given to the applicant, the Zoning Officer and to all persons who shall own property within 500 feet of any property which shall be the subject of an application before the Board. In addition to the notice provided herein, notice of said hearing shall be conspicuously posted on the affected tract of land at least one week prior to the hearing.

B. The Board of Supervisors may prescribe reasonable fees with respect to hearings before the Zoning Hearing Board.[1] 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.

C. The 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.

D. The hearings shall be conducted by the Board or the Board may appoint any member 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 decisions 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. The Board shall have the power to require that all persons who wish to be considered parties enter an appearance, in writing, on forms provided by the Board for that purpose.

F. The Chairman or Acting Chairman shall have the 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 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.

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

I. The Board or the hearing officer 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.

J. 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 of hearings with any party or his representative unless all parties are given an opportunity to be present. "Board," as used herein, shall include the members of the Board as well as any Secretary, Clerk, legal counsel or consultant.

K. The Board or 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 the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, this chapter or other rules or regulations shall contain a reference to the provisions relied on and the reasons why the conclusions are deemed appropriate in the light of the facts found. Where the Board fails to render the decisions within the period required 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 hereinafter 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 L below. If the Board shall fail to provide such notice, the appellant may do so. Nothing in this section shall prejudice the right of any party opposing the application to appeal the decision to a court of competent jurisdiction.

L. 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 the date of the decision. To all other persons who have filed their names and addresses with the Board not later than the last day of the hearing, the Board shall provide by mail or otherwise brief notice of the decisions or findings and a statement of the place at which the full decision or findings may be examined.

M. Appeals to the court Any person aggrieved by any decisions of the Board may, within 30 days after such decision of the Board, file an appeal to the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County. Such appeals shall be made in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247, as amended).