[R.O. 1996 § 405.440; Ord. No. 338 Art. XII § A, 11-14-1991]
A.
Appeals from action taken by the Administrative
Officer shall be taken in the following manner:
1.
Appointment — Term —
Vacancies — Organization. A Board of Adjustment is hereby established.
The Board of Adjustment shall consist of five (5) members, who shall
be residents of the municipality. The membership of the first Board
appointed shall serve respectively, one (1) for one (1) year, one
(1) for two (2) years, one (1) for three (3) years, one (1) for four
(4) years, and one (1) for five (5) years. Thereafter, members shall
be appointed for terms of five (5) years each. Three (3) alternate
members may be appointed to serve in the absence of or the disqualification
of the regular members. All members and alternates shall be removable
for cause by the appointing authority upon written charges and after
public hearing. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term of
any member whose term becomes vacant. The Board shall elect its own
Chairman who shall serve for one (1) year. The Board shall adopt rules
in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. Meetings of the
Board shall be held at the call of the Chairman and at such other
times as the Board may determine. Such Chairman, or in his/her absence
the Acting Chairman, may administer oaths and compel the attendance
of witnesses. All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public.
The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote
of each member upon question, or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating
such fact, and shall keep records of its examinations and other official
actions, all of which shall be immediately filed in the office of
the Board and shall be a public record. All testimony, objections
thereto and rulings thereon, shall be taken down by a reporter employed
by the Board for that purpose.
2.
Powers.
a.
The Board of Adjustment shall have
the following powers:
(1)
To hear and decide appeals
where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision,
or determination made by an administrative official in the enforcement
of these Sections or of any ordinance adopted pursuant thereto;
(2)
To hear and decide all
matters referred to it or upon which it is required to pass under
such ordinance;
(3)
In passing upon appeals,
where there are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardship in
the way of carrying out the strict letter of such ordinance, to vary
or modify the application of any of the regulations or provisions
of such ordinance relating to the construction or alteration of buildings
or structures or the use of land so that the spirit of the ordinance
shall be observed, public safety and welfare secured and substantial
justice done.
b.
In exercising the above-mentioned
powers such Board may, in conformity with the provisions of this Chapter,
reverse or affirm wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement,
decision or determination appealed from and may make such order, requirement,
decision or determination as ought to be made and to that end shall
have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken.
The concurring vote of four (4) members of the Board shall be necessary
to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination of any
such administrative official, or to decide in favor of the applicant
on any matter upon which it is required to pass under any such ordinance
or to effect any variation in such ordinance.
3.
All appeals shall be taken within
sixty (60) days of the date of the action which is appealed.
4.
Appeals from the enforcement and
interpretation of this Chapter, signed by the appellant, shall be
addressed to the Board of Adjustment and presented to the Administrative
Officer. A fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be paid to the
City of Gerald for each appeal to cover the costs of advertising and
administrative costs. The appeal shall contain or be accompanied by
such legal descriptions, maps, plan, and other information so as to
completely describe the decisions or interpretation being appealed
and the reasons for such appeal.
5.
The Administrative Officer shall
transmit to the Board of Adjustment the appeal and all papers constituting
the record upon which the action appealed was taken. The Chairman
of the Board of Adjustment shall schedule a hearing to be held within
sixty (60) days from the filing of the appeal. Public notice of the
hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in
the town at least once each week for two (2) successive weeks prior
to the hearing. The Administrative Officer shall post notice on the
property involved for a period of one (1) week prior to the hearing.
6.
An appeal stays all proceedings in
furtherance of the action appealed from unless the Administrative
Officer certifies to the Board of Adjustment that by reason of facts
in the record, a stay would, in his/her opinion, cause imminent peril
to life and property, in which case proceedings shall not be stayed
otherwise than by a court order.
[R.O. 1996 § 405.450; Ord. No. 338 Art. XII § B, 11-14-1991; Ord. No. 874, 8-9-2018]
A.
Applications for variances to this Chapter
shall be processed in the following manner:
1.
An application for a variance from
the terms of this Chapter signed by the applicant, shall be addressed
to the Board of Adjustment and presented to the Administrative Officer.
2.
A fee as set forth in Appendix A,
included as an attachment to this Chapter, shall be paid to the City
of Gerald for each application to cover the costs of advertising and
administrative costs. The application shall contain or be accompanied
by such legal descriptions, maps, plans and other information so as
to completely describe the proposed use and existing conditions.
3.
The Administrative Officer shall
review the application and determine that sufficient data is contained
to adequately describe the situation to the Board of Adjustment. If
the data is not adequate, the Administrative Officer shall return
the application to the applicant for additional information. Completed
applications shall be forwarded to the Board of Adjustment.
[R.O. 1996 § 405.460; Ord. No. 338 Art. XII § C, 11-14-1991]
A.
The Board of Adjustment shall approve or
deny appeals and variances in the following manner:
1.
The Chairman of the Board of Adjustment
shall schedule a public hearing to be held within sixty (60) days
after an application is filed. Public notice of the hearing shall
be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City at
least once each week for two (2) successive weeks prior to the hearing.
The Administrative Officer shall post notice on the property involved
for a period of one (1) week prior to the hearing.
2.
The Board of Adjustment shall approve
or deny the application for a variance following the public hearing.
Before any variance is granted, the Board of Adjustment must find
that all of the following criteria are met:
a.
Special circumstances exist which
are peculiar to the applicant's land, structure or building and do
not generally apply to the neighboring lands, structures or buildings
in the same district or vicinity.
b.
Strict application of the provisions
of this Chapter would deprive the applicant of reasonable use of the
land, structure or building in a manner equivalent to the use permitted
to be made by owners of their neighboring land, structures, or buildings
in the same district.
c.
The special circumstances are not
the result of action of the applicant taken subsequent to the adoption
of this Chapter.
d.
Relief, if approved, will not cause
substantial detriment to the public welfare or impair the purposes
and intent of this Chapter.
3.
The following rules will be considered
by the Board of Adjustment when approving or denying a variance:
a.
Financial disadvantages to the property
owner shall not constitute conclusive proof of unnecessary hardships
within the purpose of zoning.
b.
The Board of Adjustment does not
possess the power to grant a variance permitting a zoned use of land
or building that is not permitted as a principal use or structure.
c.
In granting a variance, the Board
of Adjustment may attach thereto any conditions and safeguards it
deems necessary or desirable in furthering the purposes of this Chapter.
Violation of any of these conditions or safeguards shall be deemed
a violation of this Chapter.
d.
Unless otherwise specified at the
time the variance is granted, the variance applies to the subject
property and not to the individual who applied. Consequently, the
variance is transferable to any future owner of subject property,
but cannot be transferred by the applicant to a different site.
e.
A variance shall continue for an
indefinite period of time unless otherwise specified at the time the
variance is granted, except that when a variance has not been used
within one (1) year after the date it is granted, the variance shall
be cancelled by the Administrative Officer and written notices shall
be given to the property owner.
