In granting any variance, the board may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards as it may deem necessary to implement the purposes of this act and the zoning ordinance. Every municipality which has enacted a zoning ordinance is required to have a Zoning Hearing Board. The rules and regulations of the Mt. Lebanon Zoning Hearing Board were originally adopted in 1930. They were most recently amended in 1988, in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. The purpose of the Zoning Hearing Board is to conduct hearings and render decisions regarding requests for variances to the zoning chapter.
Hearings conducted by the board are quasi-judicial proceedings.
This means that, although formal rules of evidence do not strictly apply, the record created during a hearing in front of the board is considered to be a legal record of the proceedings. The Zoning Hearing Board consists of three members, all of whom must be residents of Mt. Lebanon. The Commission selects the members and appoints them to three year terms. The terms are staggered in such a way that the term of office of one member shall expire each year. Annually, the board elects a chairman, vice-chairman and secretary to serve for the calendar year.