I just read your zoning ordinance and I don’t think that the renovation that I’d like to do would be allowed. Is there a way to get a variance from something in the zoning ordinance?

Requests for variances from the Township Code are considered by the Township’s Zoning Hearing Board, a 3-person adjudicatory body. The Zoning Hearing Board considers various criteria in deciding whether to grant a variance, as are outlined here.  Prior to a variance request going before the Zoning Hearing Board, the proposed variance is first considered by the Township’s Planning Commission and then by the Board of Supervisors, both of which typically make a recommendation to the Zoning Hearing Board about whether the variance should be granted.