A. A landowner who, on substantive grounds, desires to challenge the validity of an ordinance or map or any provision thereof which prohibits or restricts the use or development of land in which he has an interest shall submit the challenge either:
(1) To the Zoning Hearing Board under § 500-3206A(1) of this chapter.

B. Persons aggrieved by a use or development permitted on the land of another by an ordinance or map, or any provision thereof, who desire to challenge its validity on substantive grounds shall first submit their challenge to the Zoning Hearing Board for a decision thereon under § 500-3206A(1) of this chapter.

C. The submissions referred to in § 500-3214A and § 500-3214B shall be governed by the following:

(1) In challenges before the Zoning Hearing Board, the challenging party shall make a written request to the Zoning Hearing Board that it hold a hearing on its challenge. The request shall contain the reasons for the challenge. Where the landowner desires to challenge the validity of such ordinance and elects to proceed by curative amendment, his application to the Board of Supervisors shall contain, in addition to the requirements of the written request hereof, the plans and explanatory materials describing the use or development proposed by the landowner in lieu of the use or development permitted by the challenged ordinance or map. Such plans or other materials shall not be required to meet the standards prescribed for preliminary or final approval or for the issuance of a permit so long as they provide reasonable notice of the proposed use or development and a sufficient basis for evaluating the challenged ordinance or map in light thereof. Nothing herein contained shall preclude the landowner from first seeking a final approval before submitting his challenge.
(2) Based upon the testimony presented at the hearing or hearings, the Board of Supervisors or the Zoning Hearing Board, as the case may be, shall determine whether the challenged ordinance or map is defective, as alleged by the landowner. If a challenge heard by the Board of Supervisors is found to have merit, the Board of Supervisors may accept a landowner's curative amendment, with or without revision, or may adopt an alternative amendment which will cure the challenged defects. If a challenge heard by the Zoning Hearing Board is found to have merit, the decision of the Zoning Hearing Board shall include recommended amendments to the challenged ordinance which will cure the defects found. In reaching its decision, the Zoning Hearing Board or the Board of Supervisors, as the case may be, shall consider the amendments, plans and explanatory material submitted by the landowner and shall also consider:

(a) The impact of the proposal upon roads, sewer facilities, water supplies, schools and other public service facilities.
(b) If the proposal is for a residential use, the impact of the proposal upon regional housing needs and 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 the ordinance or map.
(c) The suitability of the site for the intensity of use proposed by the site's soils, slopes, woodlands, wetlands, floodplains, aquifers, natural resources and other natural features.
(d) The impact of the proposed use on the site's soils, slopes, woodlands, wetlands, floodplains, aquifers, 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.
(e) The impact of the proposal on the preservation of agriculture and other land uses which are essential to public health and welfare.
(f) The Board of Supervisors or the Zoning Hearing Board, as the case may be, shall render its decision within 45 days after the conclusion of the last hearing.
(g) If the Board of Supervisors or the Zoning Hearing Board, as the case may be, fails to act on the landowner's request within the time limits referred to in § 500-3214C(5)(f), a denial of the request is deemed to have occurred on the 46th day after the close of the last hearing.

D. The Zoning Board or Board of Supervisors, as the case may be, shall commence its hearings within 60 days after the request is filed unless the landowner requests or consents to an extension of time.

E. Public notice of the hearing shall include notice that the validity of the ordinance or map is in question and shall give the place where and the times when a copy of the request, including any plans, explanatory material or proposed amendments, may be examined by the public.

F. The challenge shall be deemed denied when:

(1) The Zoning Hearing Board or Board of Supervisors, as the case may be, fails to commence the hearing within the time limits set forth in Subsection D.
(2) The Board of Supervisors notifies the landowner that it will not adopt the curative amendment.
(3) The Board of Supervisors adopts another curative amendment which is unacceptable to the landowner.
(4) The Zoning Hearing Board or Board of Supervisors, as the case may be, fails to act on the request 45 days after the close of the last hearing on the request, unless the time is extended by mutual consent by the landowner and Township.

G. Where, after the effective date of this chapter, a curative amendment proposal is approved by the grant of a curative amendment application by the Board of Supervisors pursuant to § 500-3206B(3) of this chapter or a validity challenge is sustained by the Zoning Hearing Board pursuant to § 500-3206A of this chapter or the court as finally on appeal from denial of a curative amendment proposal or a validity challenge, and the proposal or challenge so approved requires a further application for subdivision or land development, the developer shall have two years from the date of such approval to file an application for preliminary approval pursuant to Chapter 440: Subdivision and Land Development. Within the two-year period, no subsequent change or amendment in the zoning, subdivision and land development or other governing ordinance or plan shall be applied in any manner which adversely affects the rights of the applicant as granted in the curative amendment or the sustained validity challenge. Where the proposal appended to the curative amendment application or the validity challenge is approved but does not require further application under any subdivision or land development ordinance, the developer shall have one year within which to file for a building permit. Within the one-year period, no subsequent change or amendment in the zoning, subdivision and land development or other governing ordinance or plan shall be applied in any manner which adversely affects the rights of the applicant as granted in the curative amendment or the sustained validity challenge. During these protected periods, the court shall retain or assume jurisdiction for the purpose of awarding such supplemental relief as may be necessary.

H. If a municipality does not accept a landowner's curative amendment and a court subsequently rules that the challenge has merit, the court's decision shall not result in a declaration of invalidity for the entire Zoning Ordinance and Map but only for those provisions which specifically relate to the landowner's curative amendment and challenge.