A. Appeals Generally:
1. The Board of Appeals shall hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the building inspector or Code Enforcement Officer.
2. The Board may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify or amend, the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from to the extent and in the manner that the Board may decide to be fitting and proper in the premises, and to that end, the Board shall have all the powers of the building inspector or Code Enforcement Officer.
B. Amendments: The Board, on its own initiative or at the request of any person, including the building inspector or Code Enforcement Officer, may recommend to the Village Board after public hearing, amendments to the building title of this Code and this title. (1987 Code § 2-2-6; amd. 2018 Code)
C. Exceptions And Variances:
1. The Board of Appeals shall also hold public hearings on, and when in harmony with the general purpose and intent of this title, may authorize the following exceptions to the terms thereof:
a. The extension of a district where the boundary line of a district divides a lot in a single ownership at the time of the effective date hereof.
b. Interpretation of the provisions of this title in such a way as to carry out the intent and purpose of the plan, as shown upon the map fixing the several districts adopted by reference in this title where the street layout actually on the ground varies from the street layout as shown on the map.
c. The erection and use of a building or the use of premises in any location for a railroad or public service corporation for public utility purposes which the Board determines reasonably necessary for the public convenience or welfare. (1987 Code § 2-2-6)
d. The reconstruction of a nonconforming building which has been damaged by explosion, fire, act of nature or the public enemy to the extent of more than sixty percent (60%) of its fair market value, where the Board finds some compelling necessity requiring continuance of the nonconforming use and the primary purpose of continuing the nonconforming use is not to continue a monopoly. (1987 Code § 2-2-6; amd. 2018 Code)
e. The waiving or reduction of the parking and loading requirements in any of the districts whenever the character or use of the building is such as to make unnecessary the full provision of parking or loading facilities, or where such regulations would impose an unreasonable hardship upon the use of the lot, as contrasted with merely granting an advantage or a convenience.
f. Extension of the period within which a nonconforming commercial or industrial use is to be removed from a dwelling district, when the owner or owners can furnish substantial proof that the building was so extensively remodeled, reconstructed or structurally altered after the original construction that it practically resulted in a new building, but such extension of the period shall not exceed forty (40) years from the date of such remodeling, reconstruction or structural alteration.
2. Where, by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of a specific piece of property, or by reason of exceptional topographical conditions or other extraordinary or exceptional situations, or condition of a specific piece of property, the strict application of this title results in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties, and clearly demonstrates hardship upon the owner of such property, and not a mere inconvenience to such owner, the Board of Appeals may authorize, after public hearing, a variation in the strict application of the terms of this title. In its consideration of the standards of practical difficulties or particular hardship, the Board of Appeals shall require evidence that:
a. The property in question cannot yield a reasonable return if permitted to be used only under the conditions allowed by the regulations in that zone;
b. That plight of the owner is due to unique circumstances, which circumstances do not apply to other adjoining or nearby property; and
c. The variation, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the locality.
A variation shall be permitted only if the evidence, in the judgment of the Board of Appeals, sustains each of the three (3) conditions herein enumerated. (1987 Code § 2-2-6)
3. In the event a person requests a variance meeting, a Zoning Board of Appeals Public Notice will be published in the daily newspaper as required by subsection D of this section and shall be the sole responsibility of the person requesting the variance meeting. The person requesting the variance meeting shall also post said notice in two (2) prominent places in the Village and give personal notification to the neighboring property owners who may be affected by said variance. No meeting shall proceed without certification of publication from the newspaper and signatures of neighboring property owners being presented to the Board of Appeals prior to requested hearing. (Ord. 12-6, 2-6-2012)
4. Use the following sheets are attached to ordinance 12-6 which is on file in the Office of the Village Clerk: (Ord. 12-6, 2-6-2012; amd. 2018 Code)
a. Petition for Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting.
b. Zoning Board of Appeals Public Notice Sheet. (Ord. 12-6, 2-6-2012)
5. In considering all appeals and all proposed variations of this title, the Board shall, before making any variations from this title in a specific case, first determine that the proposed variation will not impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property or unreasonably increase the congestion in public streets, increase the danger of fire, endanger the public safety, unreasonably diminish or impair established property values within the surrounding area or in any other respect impair the public health, safety, comfort, morals or welfare of the inhabitants of the Village. (1987 Code § 2-2-6)
D. Hearing And Notice: Notice of the time and place of the public hearings before the Board of Appeals shall be given by publishing at least once, not more than thirty (30) days nor less than fifteen (15) days before the hearings, in one or more newspapers published in, or of general circulation in, the County. This notice shall contain the particular location for which the variation is requested as well as a brief statement of what the proposed variation consists. Any notice required by this subsection need not include a metes and bounds legal description of the location for which the variation is requested; provided, that the notice includes: 1) the common street address or addresses; and 2) the property index number ("PIN") or numbers of all the parcels of real property contained in the area for which the variation is requested.
E. Voting: The concurring vote of four (4) members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of the building inspector or Code Enforcement Officer, or to decide in favor of the applicant any matter upon which it is authorized by this title to render a decision.
F. Restrictions On Powers: Nothing herein contained shall be construed to give or grant to the Board the power or authority to alter or change this title or the District Map, such power and authority being reserved to the Village Board of Trustees.
G. Information To Building Inspector Or Code Enforcement Officer: A duplicate of all findings shall be rendered to the building inspector or Code Enforcement Officer who thereafter shall follow such determination or interpretation until it is legally overruled by the Board, by the court or by amendment by the Village Board. The Board shall adopt its own rules and procedure not in conflict with this title or any other provision of this Code, or with the Illinois Statutes. (1987 Code § 2-2-6; amd. 2018 Code)