A. Committee Established:
1. The zoning board of appeals shall cease to exist and shall be replaced by the parks and zoning committee. Any reference to the zoning board of appeals in this title is hereby amended to parks and zoning committee.
2. The parks and zoning committee, hereby referred to in this section as the committee, shall be appointed by the mayor, and shall consist of three (3) city aldermen. The mayor shall appoint one member of the committee to serve as chairman who presides over all meetings of the committee.
B. Meetings: All meetings of the committee shall be open to the public. Meetings shall be held at the call of the chairman and at such other times as the committee may determine. Meetings may be called at the request of any member of the committee, or the administrative official charged with the enforcement of this title. The committee shall keep minutes of its proceedings. A statement of the facts found by the committee shall be included in the minutes of each case heard or considered by it. The reason for recommending or denying an exception as herein provided shall also appear in the minutes. In every instance, a statement of the facts upon which such recommendations are based shall appear in the minutes. The committee shall adopt its own rules of procedure, a copy of which and all amendments thereto shall be filed with the office of the clerk. The minutes of the committee shall be open to public examination during city hall regular business hours.
C. Jurisdiction:
1. The committee shall hear and decide appeals from, and review any order, requirement, decision, or determination, made by the administrative official charged with the enforcement of this title.
2. The committee shall also hear all applications for variations to the provisions of this title and shall submit its recommendations, based upon a finding of fact, for enactment in an amended ordinance. The committee shall not have the power to grant a variation recommendation until a public hearing has been held by the committee. The committee shall have no authority to authorize change in the use of any parcel of property or structure.
3. The concurring vote of two (2) members of the committee shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of the officer from whom an appeal is taken or to decide in favor of the applicant any matter in which said committee is required to pass under the provisions of this title.
D. Appeals And Review: Any person aggrieved by a ruling of the building inspector, respecting the interpretation of this title or any officer, department, board or bureau of the city affected by a ruling of the building inspector concerning the interpretation of this title, may take an appeal to the committee. Such appeal shall by taken within such time as shall be prescribed by the committee by general rules adopted by it, and shall be taken by filing with the building inspector and with the committee a notice of appeal, specifying the grounds thereof, together with such plats and exhibits as are reasonably necessary. Such appeals shall be taken upon forms provided by the committee. The building inspector shall forthwith transmit to the committee all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed was taken.
E. Stay Of Proceedings:
1. The appeal shall stay all proceeding and furtherance of the action appealed from unless the building inspector certifies to the committee after the notice of appeal has been filed with him/her that by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property, in which case the proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by restraining order which may be granted by the committee or by court of record on application, with notice to the building inspector, and all due causes shown.
2. The committee shall fix a reasonable time and place for the hearing of appeals and shall give notice thereof to the person appealing and to the officer from whom the appeal is taken. It shall hear and decide the appeal within a reasonable time. At the hearing, parties of interest may appear in person or by agent or attorney.
3. The committee may reverse or affirm, wholly or in part, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination as in its opinion ought to be made in the premises, and to that end shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken.
F. Variations: The city council, by ordinance, may authorize, in the manner provided by law, variations from the provisions of this title where there are practical difficulties or particular hardships in the way of carrying out the strict letter of any of the provisions of this title relating to the use, construction, alteration of buildings, structures or the use of land. However, no such variation shall be made, except in a specific case and after a public hearing before the committee, pursuant to notice and after a report with findings of fact of the committee, as provided by the laws of this state.
G. Rules Governing Variations: No variation shall be allowed:
1. To permit 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.
2. To permit a billboard to be erected or maintained.
3. To permit a nonconforming use in any residence district, excepting that when there are two (2) or more similar nonconforming uses in the same block, a variation may be allowed:
a. To alter or remodel a family residence so as to provide for two (2) dwelling units therein;
b. To erect a two-family dwelling in a one-family dwelling; and
c. To erect, reconstruct, alter or remodel a building in a one-family district for an apartment.
4. To permit a nonconforming manufacturing use in a business district:
a. Unless 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
b. Unless a separate tract, the title of which was of record on the effective date of this title, 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 twenty five feet (25') beyond the district boundary lines.
H. Notice: Decisions and recommendations of the committee shall be reached only after a public hearing and after notice has been given by registered 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 fifteen (15) days nor more than thirty (30) days previous to the hearing. Such notice shall contain the address or location of the property for which a hearing by the committee is sought, as well as a brief description of the nature of the application. (Ord. 2003-2, 2-3-2003)