A. Amendment. The provisions of this chapter and the boundaries of the zoning districts, as set forth and shown on the Township Zoning Map, may be amended or changed from time to time by the Board of Supervisors in accordance with the applicable provisions of the MPC, as amended.
B. Petition or application to rezone a parcel or parcels of property. Each petition or application for a change in the Zoning Map shall be filed with the Township Secretary, accompanied by the requisite filing fee, and shall include the following information:

(1) The name and address of the applicant, the title owner and the equitable owner of the real estate affected.
(2) The address, exact location, Chester County tax parcel number and metes and bounds description of the affected real estate.
(3) Identification of the present zoning classification of the affected real estate, a narrative description of the improvements thereon and the present use thereof, which shall specify in each instance the square footage area of all existing improvements and all proposed improvements, including buildings, structures and street improvements.
(4) Six copies of a plot plan of the affected real estate and all attachments thereto, prepared by a Pennsylvania licensed professional engineer or land surveyor, showing the location and size of the lot with reference to adjoining properties and landmarks, which shall be identified by name, tax parcel number and description, as applicable, and with reference to existing streets and rights-of-way. There shall be included and shown on the plan the location of all present and proposed buildings, streets, chives, parking lots, curb-cut accesses, parking lots and facilities, screening, fences and walls, existing or proposed water wells, sewage waste facilities, floodplains, wetlands and steep slopes. Steep slopes shall be identified by shading on the plan, differentiating between precautionary and prohibitive steep slopes. Topographical contour lines shall be shown at two-foot intervals.

C. Procedure. The following procedure shall be observed prior to making any amendment or change of this chapter or the Township Zoning Map:

(1) In the case of an amendment other than that prepared by the Planning Commission, the Board of Supervisors shall submit each such amendment to the Township Planning Commission and to the Chester County Planning Commission at least 30 days prior to conducting a public hearing on the proposed amendment to provide each with the opportunity to submit recommendations.
(2) The recommendations of the Township Planning Commission shall be submitted, in writing, to the Board of Supervisors. No public hearing shall be conducted until the Township Planning Commission and Chester County Planning Commission recommendations are made; provided, however, that if either fails to act within the requisite period, the Board of Supervisors may, at its discretion, proceed without such recommendations.

(1) A landowner who desires to challenge on substantive grounds the validity of this chapter or the Township Zoning Map or any provision thereof which prohibits or restricts the use or development of land in which the applicant has an interest may submit such challenge, together with a request for a curative amendment, to the Board of Supervisors with a written request that his challenge and proposed amendment be heard and decided as provided in MPC Section 916.1.The proposed amendment shall be accompanied by six copies of the plans, attachments, and explanatory materials describing the use or development proposed by the landowner in lieu of the use or development permitted by this chapter or the Zoning Map. Such plans shall be sufficiently specific so as to provide reasonable notice of the proposed use or development and a sufficient basis for evaluating the challenged provision of this chapter or Map in conjunction with such plans. The Board shall commence a hearing thereon within 60 days after the request is filed. The curative amendment and challenge shall be referred to the Township Planning Commission and Chester County Planning Commission as provided in § 84-70D(1) hereof, and public notice of the hearing thereon shall be given and shall include notice that the validity of this chapter or Map is in question and identify the place where and times when a copy of the request, plans, materials and proposed amendment may be examined by the public. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with MPC Section 908(4) through (8), and all references therein to the Zoning Hearing Board shall, for purposes of this section, be references to the Board of Supervisors.
(2) In consideration of the landowner's curative amendment, the governing body shall consider the plans and explanatory materials submitted by the landowner as well as the following factors:

(a) The impact of the proposed amendment upon roads, sewer facilities, water supply, schools and other public service facilities;
(b) If the proposal is for residential use, the impact of the proposal upon regional housing needs and the effectiveness of the proposal in providing housing units of a type actually available to and affordable by classes of persons otherwise unlawfully excluded by the challenged provisions of this chapter or the Zoning Map;
(c) The suitability of the site for the intensity of use proposed by the site's soils, slopes, woodlands, floodplains, aquifers, natural resources and other natural features;
(d) The impact of the proposed use on the site's soils, slopes, woodlands, wetlands, floodplains, natural resources and natural features, the degree to which these are protected or destroyed, the tolerance of the resources to development and any adverse environmental impacts; and
(e) The impact of the proposal on the preservation of agriculture and other land uses which are essential to public health and welfare.

(3) If the Board of Supervisors determines that a validity challenge has merit, it may accept the landowner's curative amendment, with or without revision, or may adopt an alternative amendment which will cure the challenged defects.
(4) The landowner's request for a curative amendment is denied when:

(a) The Board of Supervisors fails to commence the public hearing within 60 days after the request is filed;
(b) The governing body notifies the landowner that it will not adopt a curative amendment;
(c) The governing body adopts another amendment which is unacceptable to the landowner; or
(d) The governing body fails to act on the request 45 days after the close of the last public hearing on the request, unless the time is extended by mutual consent by the landowner and the Township.

(1) If the Township determines that this Zoning Ordinance or any portion hereof is substantially invalid, it shall take the following actions:

(a) Declare by formal action this chapter or any portion hereof affected substantially invalid and propose to prepare a curative amendment to overcome such validity.
(b) Within 30 days following such declaration and proposal, the Board of Supervisors shall:

[1] By resolution, make specific findings setting forth the declared invalidity thereof which may include references to specific uses which are either not permitted or not permitted in sufficient quantity, reference to a class of use or uses which require revision and reference to the provision(s) of this chapter which requires revision.
[2] Begin to prepare and consider a curative amendment to this chapter to correct the declared invalidity.

(2) Within 180 days from the date of the declaration and proposal, the Board of Supervisors shall enact a curative amendment to validate or reaffirm the validity of this chapter in order to cure the declared invalidity of this chapter.
(3) Upon initiation of the procedures set forth in this subsection, neither the Board of Supervisors nor the Zoning Hearing Board shall be required to entertain or consider any landowner's curative amendment filed under MPC Section 609.1, 909.1 or 916.1 subsequent to the declaration and proposal based upon the grounds identical to or substantially similar to those specified in the resolution required by § 84-70E(1)(b)[1] of this section. Upon completion of the procedures as set forth in § 84-70E(1) and § 84-70E(2) of this section, no rights to a cure pursuant to the provisions of MPC Sections 609.1 and 916.1 shall, from the date of the declaration and proposal, accrue to any landowner on the basis of the substantive invalidity of this unamended chapter for which there has been a curative amendment pursuant to this section.
(4) Following the date of the enactment of a curative amendment or reaffirmation of the validity of this chapter pursuant to § 84-70E(1) and § 84-70E(2), the Township may not again utilize this procedure for a thirty-six-month period; provided, however, that if after the date of declaration and proposal there is a substantially new duty or obligation imposed upon the Township by virtue of a change in statute or by virtue of a Pennsylvania Appellate Court decision, the Township may utilize the provisions of this section to prepare a curative amendment to this chapter to fulfill said duty or obligation.

(1) Before voting on the enactment of an amendment to this chapter, the Board of Supervisors shall fix the time and place of a public hearing on the proposed amendment, which hearing shall be held pursuant to public notice. In addition, if the proposed amendment involves a Zoning Map change, notice of said public hearing shall be conspicuously posted by the Zoning Officer at points along the perimeter of the lot or tract sufficient to notify potentially interested citizens. Such posting shall be accomplished at least one week prior to the date of the hearing. In addition to the requirement that notice be posted on the property, if the proposed amendment involves a Zoning Map change, notice of the public hearing shall be mailed by the Township at least 30 days prior to the date of the hearing by first class mail to the addresses to which real estate tax bills are sent for all real property located within the area being rezoned, as evidenced by tax records within the possession of the Township. The notice shall include the location, date and time of the public hearing. This public notice shall not be required when the rezoning constitutes a comprehensive rezoning of the Township.
(2) Public notice of the proposed amendment shall include reference to the place within the Township where copies of the proposed amendatory ordinance may be examined and shall include either the full text of the amendatory ordinance or the title and a brief summary prepared by the Township Solicitor setting forth all of the provisions in reasonable detail.
(3) If the full text of the amendatory ordinance is not included in the public notice, a copy of the full text shall be supplied by the Township Secretary or Township Solicitor to a newspaper of general circulation in the Township, and an attested copy of the proposed amendatory ordinance shall be filed by the Township Secretary or Township Solicitor with the Chester County Law Library.
(4) In the event that substantial amendments are made to the proposed amendatory ordinance, the ordinance shall be readvertised no less than 10 days prior to enactment.