(1) A zoning permit shall be required as designated below. If any of the improvements listed below are located in the Floodplain District, they are also subject to compliance with the provisions of § 155-7.3: Floodplain Overlay District.

(2) No land use may be established or changed and no building or structure may be used or occupied or the use classification changed until a zoning permit has been obtained. (See Table 5.1, Uses, for a list of use classifications.)

(3) No zoning permit shall be required for municipal or municipal authority offices.

(4) A zoning permit shall also be required prior to performing any of the following improvements:

(a) Temporary uses of land or structures.
(b) Grading within the floodplain.
(c) Any fence or wall within the floodplain.
(d) The storage of any materials within the floodplain.
(e) Play structures or other recreational equipment located within the floodplain.
(f) Any change or increase in impervious surface on a lot.
(g) The installation of a shed or other accessory structures less than 200 square feet.
(h) A retaining wall not within the floodplain exceeding four feet above grade.
(i) Installation of frontage fencing, secondary frontage fencing, or frontage facade fencing.
(j) Any repair or replacement of a nonconforming fence.
 

(5) In the case of a conditional use or use by special exception, the Zoning Officer shall refer the application to the Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners or to the Zoning Hearing Board, whichever is applicable, prior to issuing a zoning permit. Whenever the approval of a conditional use or use by special exception includes conditions attached to the approval, said conditions shall be incorporated into the zoning permit.

(6) In the case of a permitted use, the Zoning Officer shall not issue the zoning permit unless and until all applicable regulations of this chapter have been met and, in the case of a use for which land development approval is required by Chapter 135: Subdivision and Land Development, unless and until final approval of the land development has been granted. Whenever final approval of a land development is subject to conditions, those conditions shall be incorporated into the zoning permit.

(7) Application for zoning permit. Application for a zoning permit shall be made in writing to the Zoning Officer on forms furnished by the Township together with the payment of a fee. The Zoning Officer shall require that the application for a zoning permit and the accompanying plot plan, prepared by a registered engineer or land surveyor, shall contain all information necessary to enable him/her to ascertain whether the proposed building complies with the provisions of this chapter, any information required by conditions on land development approval, and conditions attached to any conditional use or Zoning Hearing Board approval.

(8) Application for preliminary opinion.

(a) A landowner may submit plans and other materials describing a proposed use or development to the Zoning Officer for a preliminary opinion as to their compliance with the provisions of this chapter. Such plans and other materials shall not be required to meet the standards prescribed for tentative, preliminary or final plan approval or for the issuance of a building permit, so long as they provide reasonable notice of the proposed use or development and a sufficient basis for a preliminary opinion as to its compliance.
(b) If the Zoning Officer's preliminary opinion is that the use or development complies with the provisions of this chapter, notice thereof shall be published each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township. Such notice shall include a general description of the proposed use or development and its location, by some readily identifiable directive, and the place and times where the plans and other materials may be examined by the public. Appeal from a favorable preliminary approval shall be to the Zoning Hearing Board, the time therefor to run from the date when the second notice thereof has been published.
(c) The application for preliminary opinion shall be accompanied by such documentation as the Zoning Officer shall prescribe and by payment of an application fee.
 

(a) Permits issued in error shall convey no rights to any party. Permits issued in error shall not confer any rights to construction or occupancy, and upon a finding that a permit has been so issued, it shall be revoked.
(b) No approval shall be construed to authorize violation of any provisions of this Code, and such approval shall be valid only to the extent that the work authorized is lawful.
(c) Issuance of a building permit based upon a site plan shall not prevent the Zoning Officer from thereafter requiring correction of errors in the plan.
 

(10) No approval available if code enforcement violations. No permit approval may be issued if the business, enterprise, occupation, trade, profession, property or activity is the subject of an ongoing Township enforcement procedure, or is the subject of a notice of violation of a state law or county ordinance where the business enterprise is located or is to be located, unless the subject of the application would cure the outstanding violation.

(11) Expiration of zoning permits. A zoning permit shall expire if the use authorized by the permit has not commenced within 90 days of issuance. Commencement of the ninety-day deadline shall be automatically extended if the application requires land development approval and/or work pursuant to a construction or runoff and erosion control permit until completion thereof, provided that the work has been continuously pursued. Notice of the permit expiration shall be given by the Zoning Officer.