Village of Whitefish Bay, WI Article VIII Enforcement; Board of Appeals

§ 16-50 Enforcement.

The provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by the Building Inspector of the Village. Appeals from the decision of the Building Inspector may be made to the Board of Appeals as provided for by law.

§ 16-51 Board of Appeals; powers; duties.

A. The Board of Appeals shall adopt rules governing its proceedings and may, from time to time, amend and repeal such rules, all, however, subject to the approval of the Village Board. No decision of the Board shall be filed until signed by the Chair or acting Chair of the Board. The place of filing decisions of the Board shall be in the office of the Village Manager. With each original decision so filed, there shall be furnished to the Village Manager nine copies of such decision, who shall deliver by mail or otherwise a copy of such decision to the Building Inspector and to each member of the Village Board within two days after the filing of the original thereof.

B. Filing fee. An appeal by an applicant for a variance to the Whitefish Bay Board of Appeals from the Building Inspector's denial of a permit shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee as se from time to time by the Village Board.

[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 17, Village Code and Ordinances, Art. I)]

C. Special exceptions.

(1) The Board of Appeals, pursuant to Wis. Stats. § 62.23(7)(e), and after appropriate notice and hearing, may grant a special exception to a requirement imposed by this chapter, when the section of the Zoning Code which imposes such requirement expressly allows for special exceptions.

(2) The applicant shall have the burden of proof to present evidence sufficient to support the findings required under Subsection C(3).

(3) Pursuant to Subsection C(1), a special exception may be granted only upon a finding, by not fewer than four members of the Board of Appeals, that:

(a) Compliance with the requirement will:

[1] Be unreasonably burdensome to the applicant; or

[2] Unreasonably and negatively impact upon the applicant's use of the property.

(b) The special exception, including any conditions imposed under Subsection C(4), will:

[1] Be consistent with the existing character of the neighborhood;

[2] Not effectively undermine the ability to apply or enforce the requirement with respect to other properties; and

[3] Be in harmony with the general purpose and intent of the chapter prescribing the requirement.

(4) In making its determinations under Subsection C(3), the Board of Appeals may consider factors such as: characteristics of the real property, including, but not limited to, relative placement of improvements thereon with respect to property boundaries or otherwise applicable setbacks; existing and future use of property; useful life of improvements at issue; disability of an occupant; aesthetics; degree of noncompliance with the requirement allowed by the special exception; proximity to and character of surrounding properties; zoning of the area in which property is located and neighboring areas; and the purpose and intent of the Zoning Code subsection imposing the requirement.

(5) Any special exception granted under the authority of Subsection C(1) may contain conditions that the Board of Appeals deem necessary, including, but not limited to, conditions that:

(a) Prescribe the duration of the special exception to be:

[1] Permanent, thereby remaining permanently with the property;

[2] A specified length of time; or

[3] The time period during which the property is owned or occupied by a particular person.

(b) Require the performance of additional actions related to the mitigation or enhancement of impacts resulting from the special exception.

(c) Prescribe a limitation on the action effectively authorized by the special exception, even though such a limitation does not otherwise appear in the requirement from which the special exception is sought.