(a) The Village Council shall perform the following functions:
(1) Appoint an Enforcement Officer (a.k.a. Village Administrator) who shall be responsible for the administrative enforcement of these Regulations. To this end, the Enforcement Officer shall work closely with the Village Council and the Planning Commission.
(2) Elect one (1) member of the Village Council and approve the Mayor’s appointment of three (3) individuals to the Planning Commission (a.k.a. Zoning Board of Appeals), who are residents of the Village. The term of appointed members shall be staggered three (3) years with one (1) member being appointed every year for a three-year term.
(3) Unless and until the Village Council acts to appoint a separate Board of Zoning Appeals, the Planning Commission shall have all the powers and duties and act as the Board of Zoning Appeals.
(4) Enter into a Contract, called a Subdivider’s Agreement, with the subdivider or developer, specifying what public improvements are to be carried out and providing the legal basis for the posting of the performance surety.
(5) Accept required public improvements which have been inspected and approved by the Village Administrator and which are in accordance with the Village Official Thoroughfare Plan.
(6) Release the performance surety of the subdivider or developer once the required public improvements have been accepted.
(7) Amend these Regulations following receipt of a formal recommendation from the Planning Commission and following a public hearing with the appropriate public notice.
(b) The Enforcement Officer (a.k.a. Village Administrator) shall have the responsibility of acting on behalf of the Planning Commission in making an initial determination that a particular subdivider has or has not complied with the requirements of these Regulations and shall perform the following functions:
(1) Establish that all the requirements of these Regulations have been fully met by the subdivider.
(2) Distribute, where appropriate, copies of the preliminary plat to the Village Administrator, Planning Commission, Village Council, and other Village officials for their study and review comments.
(3) Determine instances of noncompliance with these Regulations on the basis of an interpretation of these Regulations and the review of comments of all the appropriate officials to whom copies of the preliminary plat were sent.
(4) Make recommendations to the Planning Commission for action on all preliminary and final plats, certifying those final plats that are in full compliance with the provisions of these Regulations.
(5) Issue Zoning Permits to applicants whose final plat and construction drawings have received the approval of the Village Administrator and Planning Commission.
(6) Maintain permanent and current records of these Regulations including amendments thereto.
(c) Planning Commission (a.k.a. Zoning Board of Appeals). In order to administer these Regulations, the Planning Commission shall do the following:
(1) The Mayor shall be Chairman. The Planning Commission shall be composed of five (5) members.
(2) Meetings shall be held at the call of the Chairman and at such other times as the Planning Commission may determine. All meetings shall be open to the public and minutes shall be kept of the proceedings. Written applications for appeals or variances shall be made to the Village Administrator and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
(3) Review the preliminary plat submitted by a subdivider and either accept, accept with modifications, or reject said preliminary plat.
(4) Evaluate the recommendation of the and Village Administrator relative to the preliminary plat and final plat applications.
(5) Review the final plat and construction drawings submitted by the subdivider, check that the final plat is in accordance with the preliminary plat, check that the construction drawings are in accordance with the regulations of the Village, determine that the requirements in these Regulations have been met, and either accept, accept with modifications, or reject said final plat.
(6) Make recommendations to the Village Council relative to the acceptance of public rights-of-way contained within the particular subdivision.
(7) Recommend amendments to these Regulations to the Village Council following the holding of a public hearing, at such times as such amendments are felt to be appropriate.
(8) Specific powers relative to the administrative errors.
A. The Planning Commission (aka Zoning Board of Appeals) shall hear and decide appeals, where it is alleged that there is an error in any administrative decision made in the enforcement of the Regulations.
B. The Subdivider shall file a “Notice of Appeal” with the Enforcement Officer and the Planning Commission specifying the grounds thereof. All requested appeals shall be submitted within twenty (20) days of the decision.
C. The Village Administrator shall transmit to the Board all of the papers, constituting the record upon which the action appealed from is taken.
D. Normally such review by the Board shall be limited to alleged errors in interpretation of these Regulations.
(9) Specific powers relative to variances. The Planning Commission shall have the power to authorize upon appeal in specific cases, such variances from the provisions or requirements of these Regulations as will not be contrary to the public interest. No variance from the strict application of any provision of these Regulations shall be granted by the Board unless it finds, beyond reasonable doubt, that all of the following facts and conditions exist:
A. That special conditions and circumstances exist which are peculiar to the land involved, such as irregular, abnormally narrow, shallow, or steep lots or other unusual physical conditions and which are not applicable to other lands in the immediate vicinity.
B. That literal interpretation of the provisions of these Regulations would deprive the applicant of rights commonly enjoyed by other property owners in the immediate vicinity under the terms of these Regulations.
C. That the special conditions and circumstances do not result from the actions of the applicant.
D. That granting the variance requested will provide the minimum necessary relief to alleviate the hardship and will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that is denied by these Regulations to other lands, structures, or buildings in the same vicinity.
E. That granting of the variance will be in harmony with the general purpose and intent of these Regulations and will not be injurious to the neighborhood or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare.
(10) Submittal procedure. All submittals made to the Planning Commission shall be in writing and filed with the Village Administrator at least fourteen (14) days prior to the meeting at which they are to be heard. Each submittal shall refer to the specific provisions of these Regulations involved and shall set forth a clear and exact description of land involved, the interpretation of these Regulations that is claimed, and/or the details of the variance proposed to be granted.
(d) The County Recorder shall perform the following functions:
(1) Record the final plat of a subdivision once said final plat has been officially approved by the Village Administrator, Planning Commission, and Village Council.
(2) Transfer property and record deed or leases, where the subdivision of land is involved, only after the subdivider has met all the requirements of these Regulations.
(3) Enter the lots of record from all final plats upon the Hardin County tax list for the purpose of taxation.
(e) The Village Administrator shall perform the following functions:
(1) Review preliminary plats as to their basic engineering feasibility.
(2) Review and approve final plats and construction drawings.
(3) Make all necessary inspections of the construction of required public improvements to determine that they meet the requirements of these Regulations.
(f) The Village Administrator shall have the following responsibilities:
(1) Review and approve the preliminary plat so as to ensure its compliance with the Administrator’s regulations and those of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA).
(2) Review and approve the final plat and construction drawings so as to ensure their compliance with the Administrator’s regulations and those of the OEPA.