(A) The Village Council shall perform the following functions:
(1) Appoint an Enforcement Officer (Zoning Enforcement Officer) who shall be responsible for the administrative enforcement of these regulations. To this end, the Enforcement Officer shall work closely with the Village Administrator’s Office and the Planning Commission;
(2) Approve the Mayor’s appointment of one member of the Village Council, three residents to the Planning Commission and five residents to the Board of Zoning Appeals;
(3) 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;
(4) Accept required public improvements which have been inspected and approved by the Village Administrator and which are in accordance with the County Official Thoroughfare Plan, and the Village Official Thoroughfare Plan;
(5) Release the performance surety of the subdivider or developer once the required public improvements have been accepted and maintenance surety has been provided; and
(6) 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 (Zoning Enforcement Officer) 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) Determine instances of non-compliance 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;
(3) 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;
(4) Issue building/zoning permits to applicants whose final plat and construction drawings have received the approval of the Village Administrator and the Planning Commission;
(5) Maintain permanent and current records of these regulations including amendments thereto; and
(6) Receive, review, file, forward, and maintain records of application forms, preliminary plats, final plats, construction drawings, and other required submissions under the terms of these regulations.
(C) In order to administer these regulations, the Planning Commission shall do the following:
(1) The Planning Commission shall be composed of five members for terms of six years each;
(2) Meetings shall be held at the call of the Chairperson 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;
(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 Enforcement Officer 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 Administrator, 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) Shall be responsible for the uniform administration of these regulations; and
(8) The Planning Commission shall make recommendations to Village Council when amendments to these regulations would further the intent and objective of these regulations.
(D) The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) shall be composed of five members for terms of five years. The Mayor shall appoint a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Secretary.
(1) Specific powers relative to the administrative errors.
(a) The BZA 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 BZA specifying the grounds thereof. All requested appeals shall be submitted within 20 days of the decision.
(c) The Enforcement Officer shall transmit to the BZA all of the papers, constituting the record upon which the action appealed from is taken.
(d) Normally, such review by the BZA shall be limited to alleged errors in interpretation of these regulations.
(2) Specific powers relative to variances. The BZA 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 BZA unless it finds, beyond reasonable doubt, that all of the following facts and conditions exist:
(a) 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 district;
(b) Literal interpretation of the provisions of these regulations would deprive the applicant of rights commonly enjoyed by other property owners in the immediate district under the terms of these regulations;
(c) The special conditions and circumstances do not result from the actions of the applicant;
(d) 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 district; and
(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.
(3) Application procedure.
(a) All submittals made to the BZA shall be in writing and filed with the Village Administrator at least 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.
(b) Written applications for appeals or variances shall be made to the Enforcement Officer and the BZA.
(E) 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 Enforcement Officer, Village Administrator, Planning Commission, Village Council and County Engineer;
(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; and
(3) Enter the lots of record from all final plats upon the county tax list for the purpose of taxation.
(F) The Village Administrator shall have the following responsibilities:
(1) Make all necessary inspections of the construction of required public improvements to determine that they meet the requirements of these regulations;
(2) Review and approve the preliminary plat so as to ensure its compliance with these regulations; and
(3) Review and approve the final plat and construction drawings so as to ensure their compliance with these regulations.
(Ord. 12-23, passed 11-27-2012)