There is established a Board of Zoning Appeals. Said Board shall
consist of seven members to be appointed by the City Council to serve
respectively for the following terms: one for one year, one for two
years, one for three years, one for four years, one for five years,
one for six years and one for seven years; the successor to each member
so appointed to serve for a term of five years. One of the members
so appointed shall be named as Chairman at the time of his appointment.
All meetings of the Board of Appeals shall be held at the call
of the Chairman and at such other times as the Board may determine.
All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public, and no hearing
shall be conducted without a quorum of the Board being present, which
shall consist of a majority of all the members. The Board shall keep
minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon every
question or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating that fact, and
shall also keep records of its examinations and other official actions.
Every rule and regulation, every amendment or repeal thereof, and
every order, requirement, decision, or determination of the Board
shall immediately be filed in the office of the Board and shall be
a public record.
The Board of Appeals shall hear and decide appeals from and
review any order, requirement, decision or determination made by an
administrative official charged with the enforcement of this chapter
and any zoning ordinance. The Board shall also hear and decide all
matters referred to it upon which it is required to pass under this
chapter. The concurring vote of four members of the Board is necessary
to reverse any order, requirement, decision or to decide in favor
of the applicant any matter upon which it is required to pass under
such ordinance or this chapter, or to effect any variance in the ordinance
or this chapter, or to recommend any variation in the ordinance or
this chapter, or to recommend any variation or modification in the
ordinance or this chapter to the corporate authorities.
[Amended 1976 by Ord. No. 492]
The City Council, by motion duly made, seconded and passed,
may authorize, in the manner provided by law, variations from the
provisions of this chapter where there are practical difficulties
or particular hardships in the way of carrying out the strict letter
of any of the provisions of this chapter relating to the use, construction
or alteration of buildings or structures or the use of land. The City
Council may attach conditions to the granting of variations and, in
the event the conditions are not complied with during the existence
of the variation, the variation shall be deemed automatically revoked.
Any such conditions shall be stated in the motion for granting of
the variance and the motion, together with such conditions, if any,
shall be noted in the minutes of the City Council meeting and made
a part of the permanent record thereof. However, no such variation
shall be made, except in a specific case and after a public hearing
before the Board of Appeals, pursuant to notice, and after a report
with a finding of fact of the Board of Zoning Appeals, as provided
by the laws of the state.
[Amended 1979 by Ord. No. 526]
No variation shall be allowed to permit:
A.
A nonconforming use which will materially interfere with the use
of adjoining premises in conformity with the regulations applicable
to the use district in which it is located.
B.
A billboard to be erected or maintained.
C.
A nonconforming manufacturing district use in a business district,
unless:
(1)
It is an extension of a permitted nonconforming use by enlarging
a building or erecting additional buildings as part of one establishment
upon a lot or lots adjoining a lot on which such nonconforming use
exists; or
(2)
A separate tract, the title to which was of record on the effective
date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, is divided by a district
boundary line, but such variation shall be limited to the use permitted
in the adjoining district and shall not be extended more than 25 feet
beyond the district boundary lines.
D.
A nonconforming use in any residence district, except that, when
there are two or more similar nonconforming uses in the same block,
a variation may be allowed:
[Amended 2-6-2017 by Ord.
No. 994]
Decisions and recommendations of the Board of Zoning Appeals
shall be reached only after a public hearing and after notice has
been given by certified mail to the applicant. In addition, notice
of the time and place of such public hearing shall be published in
a paper of general circulation in the City not less than 15 days nor
more than 30 days previous to the hearing. Such notice shall contain
the address or location of the property for which a hearing by the
Board is sought, as well as a brief description of the nature of the
application. Any notice required by this section need not include
a metes-and-bounds legal description of the location for which the
variation is requested, provided that the notice includes the common
street address or addresses and the property index number ("PIN")
or numbers of all the parcels of real property contained in the area
for which the variation is requested.
[Amended 2-6-2017 by Ord.
No. 994]
Fees pertaining to petitions for zoning amendments, variations
and appeals to the Board of Zoning Appeals shall be established by
action of the Council from time to time. Such fees shall be paid to
the Clerk, who shall give a receipt therefor.
