A Board of Adjustment is hereby established for the purpose of providing a body to safeguard the most appropriate development of the community in accordance with the public interest and to hear appeals from any decision or interpretation of this ordinance. The word “Board” shall be construed to mean the Board of Adjustment. The Board shall consist of seven (7) members. Five (5) members shall be appointed by the Council of the City of Carroll, Iowa and shall be citizens of the City. Two (2) members shall be appointed by the Board of Supervisors of Carroll County and shall be citizens of the area extended beyond the corporate limits of the City of Carroll by a 28E Agreement between the City of Carroll, Iowa and Carroll County, Iowa. Any vacancy shall be filled in the same manner for the unexpired portion of the term.
1. Term. Each member of the Board shall be appointed to a term of five years. All terms shall be staggered so that only one term expires each year.
2. Compensation. All members shall serve without compensation.
3. Officers. The Board shall elect its own chairman and vice-chairman at the first meeting on or after January 1 of each year. The Board shall also appoint a person to serve as the Secretary of the Board. In the absence of the secretary, the chairman may appoint another to serve for the meeting. The secretary shall keep minutes of its proceedings showing the vote of each member upon each question, or if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact and shall keep records of the examinations, and any other official actions, all of which shall be immediately filed in the office of the Clerk and shall be of public record.
4. Meetings. Meetings of the Board shall be held at the call of the chairman and at such other times as the Board may determine. The chairman, or in his absence, the acting chairman, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of the witnesses. The Board shall have the power to call on any City department for assistance in the performance of its duties and it shall be the duty of such department to render such assistance.
5. Quorum. The presence of four (4) members shall be necessary for a quorum and the concurring vote of four members of the Board shall be necessary on all matters upon which it is required to consider. The chairman, or acting chairman, are voting members of the Board.
6. Rules and Regulations. The Board shall adopt, from time to time, subject to the approval of the City Council, such rules and regulations as it may deem necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this ordinance.
7. Appeals. Appeals to the Board may be taken by any person aggrieved, or by any officer, department, or board of the City affected by any decision of the administrative officer. Such appeal shall be taken within a reasonable time as provided by the rules of the Board by filing with the secretary of the Board and administrative officer, written notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof. The administrative officer shall forthwith transmit to the Board all papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from is taken.
8. Effect of Appeal. An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the administrative officer certifies to the Board that a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In such case, proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by restraining order which may be granted by the Board of Adjustment or by a court of record on application or notice to the offer from whom the appeal was taken on due cause shown.
9. Time and Notice of Hearing. The Board shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal, give public notice thereof, as well as due notice to the parties in interest and decide the same within a reasonable time. Upon the hearing any party may appeal in person or by agent or by attorney.
10. Duties and Powers. The Board of Adjustment shall have the following powers:
A. The board shall have the power to hear and decide on appeals where it is alleged that there is an error in any order, requirement, decision, determination or interpretation by the code official.
B. The board shall have the power to hear and decide on appeals wherein a variance to the terms of this code is proposed. Limitations as to the board’s authorization shall be as set forth in this code.
C. Variance review criteria. The board of adjustment shall be permitted to approve, approve with conditions or deny a request for a variance. Each request for a variance shall be consistent with the following criteria:
(1) Limitations on the use of the property due to physical, topographical and geologic features.
(2) The grant of the variance will not grant any special privilege to the property owner.
(3) The applicant can demonstrate that without a variance there can be no reasonable use of the property.
(4) The grant of the variance is not based solely on economic reasons.
(5) The necessity for the variance was not created by the property owner.
(6) The variance requested is the minimum variance necessary to allow reasonable use of the property.
(7) The grant of the variance will not be injurious to the public health, safety or welfare.
(8) The property subject to the variance request possesses one or more unique characteristics generally not applicable to similarly situated properties.
D. Use Variance. The board of adjustment shall not grant a variance to allow the establishment of a use in a zoning district when such use is prohibited by the provisions of this code.
E. Decisions. The board shall be permitted to decide in any manner it sees fit; however, it shall not have the authority to alter or change this code or zoning map or allow as a use that which would be inconsistent with requirements of this code. Provided, however, that in interpreting and applying the provisions of this code, the requirements shall be deemed to be the spirit and intent of the code and do not constitute the granting of a special privilege.
F. Special Use Permits. The Board shall have the power to grant special use permits according to the procedures set forth in this Code.
G. Parking Exceptions. The Board shall have the power to grant parking exceptions or modifications as provided in this Code.
11. Initiation of Variance. A request for variance may be initiated by a property owner or his authorized agent. A request may also be initiated by the City Council or Planning and Zoning Commission where a City property is involved.
12. Application and Fee. An application by a property owner, or his authorized agent for variance, shall be filed with the zoning administrator. The application shall be accompanied by adequate drawings and other descriptive materials constituting a record essential to understanding the variance requested. The application shall also be accompanied by a fee of $50.00 payable to the general fund of the City of Carroll, Iowa.
13. Notice of Meeting. Notice of time and place of the Board's meeting and of the purpose shall be given by the chairman not less than ten days prior to the date of the meeting. The zoning administrative officer shall give written notice by mail or publication in a newspaper in Carroll of the meeting to record owners of property abutting the lot or parcel of land on which the variance is requested, and shall notify record owners of any other lot or land parcel which is deemed affected by the proposed variance. Any decision by the administrative officer as to the identity of persons affected by the proposed variances shall not be subject to appeal.
14. Hearings. At said hearing, any party may appear in person, or by agent or attorney. The variance may be granted, refused, or tabled subject to further investigation. The Board may attach conditions to an authorized variance which it feels are necessary to protect the public interest and carry out the purposes of this ordinance. A concurring vote of four members of the Board shall be necessary to grant a variance and the administrative officer shall notify the applicant for a variance in writing of the Board's action within seven days after the Board has rendered its decision.