(a) Creation; membership; appointment. There is hereby created the board of adjustment which shall consist of 15 members who are residents of the city. Each city council member shall appoint one member to the board. The chair and two vice-chairs shall be appointed by the mayor from among the board members. The city secretary shall divide the board into panels of five members each. A board member may serve only on the panel to which he or she is assigned. To the greatest extent practicable, the panels must reflect the geographic and ethnic diversity of the city. The chair and vice-chairs shall act as presiding officers of the panels. Members serve for two-year terms beginning on October 1 of odd-numbered years and shall serve until their successors are appointed and qualified. A vacancy for the unexpired term of any member will be filled in the same manner as the original appointment was made. The city council may appoint six alternate members to the board who serve in the absence of one or more regular members when requested to do so by the board chair, the presiding officer of a board panel, or by the city manager. The alternate members serve for the same period and are subject to removal the same as regular members. The city council shall fill vacancies occurring in the alternate membership the same as in the regular membership.
(b) Case assignments. The board shall adopt rules for the assignment of cases to a panel. Only one panel may hear, handle, or render a decision in a particular case. If a case is dismissed or withdrawn and subsequently refiled within five years of the date the original case was dismissed or withdrawn, it must be returned to the panel to which it was originally assigned.
(c) Quorum and voting. Cases must be heard by a minimum of 75 percent of the members of a board panel. The concurring vote of 75 percent of the members of a panel is necessary to:
(1) reverse an order, requirement, decision, or determination of an administrative official involving the interpretation or enforcement of the zoning ordinance;
(2) decide in favor of an applicant on a matter on which the board is required to pass under state law, the city charter, or city ordinances; or
(3) grant a variance.
(d) Powers and duties. The board has the following powers and duties, which must be exercised in accordance with this chapter:
(1) To hear and decide appeals from decisions of administrative officials made in the enforcement of the zoning ordinance of the city. For purposes of this section, "administrative official" means that person within a city department having the final decision-making authority within the department relative to the zoning enforcement issue.
(2) To interpret the intent of the zoning district map when uncertainty exists because the actual physical features differ from those indicated on the zoning district map and when the rules set forth in the zoning district boundary regulations do not apply.
(3) To hear and decide special exceptions that are expressly provided for in this chapter.
(4) To bring about the discontinuance of a nonconforming use under a plan whereby the owner's actual investment in the structure(s) prior to the time that the use became nonconforming can be amortized within a definite time period.
(5) To hear and decide requests for change of occupancy of a nonconforming use to another nonconforming use.
(6) To hear and decide requests for the enlargement of a nonconforming use.
(7) To hear and decide requests for reconstruction of a nonconforming structure on the land occupied by the structure when the reconstruction will not permanently prevent the return of the property to a conforming use and will not increase the nonconformity.
(8) To require the vacation and demolition of a nonconforming structure that is determined to be obsolete, dangerous, dilapidated, or substandard.
(9) To consider on its own motion or upon the request of interested property owners, the operation or alteration of any use which is a nonconforming use because of its noncompliance with the environmental performance standards set forth in this chapter, and to specify the conditions and standards which must be complied with for continuance of the nonconforming use.
(10) To grant variances from the front yard, side yard, rear yard, lot width, lot depth, lot coverage, floor area for structures accessory to single family uses, height, minimum sidewalks, off-street parking or off-street loading, or landscape regulations provided that:
(A) In general.
(i) the variance is not contrary to the public interest when, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of this chapter would result in unnecessary hardship, and so that the spirit of the ordinance will be observed and substantial justice done;
(ii) the variance is necessary to permit development of a specific parcel of land that differs from other parcels of land by being of such a restrictive area, shape, or slope that it cannot be developed in a manner commensurate with the development upon other parcels of land with the same zoning; and
(iii) the variance is not granted to relieve a self-created or personal hardship, nor for financial reasons only, except as provided in Subparagraph (B)(i), nor to permit any person a privilege in developing a parcel of land not permitted by this chapter to other parcels of land with the same zoning.
(B) Structures. In exercising its authority under Subsection (A)(ii), the board may consider the following as grounds to determine whether compliance with the ordinance as applied to a structure that is the subject of the appeal would result in unnecessary hardship:
(i) the financial cost of compliance is greater than 50 percent of the appraised value of the structure as shown on the most recent appraisal roll certified to the assessor for the municipality under Section 26.01 of the Texas Tax Code;
(ii) compliance would result in a loss to the lot on which the structure is located of at least 25 percent of the area on which development is authorized to physically occur;
(iii) compliance would result in the structure not being in compliance with a requirement of a municipal ordinance, building code, or other requirement;
(iv) compliance would result in the unreasonable encroachment on an adjacent property or easement; or
(v) the municipality considers the structure to be a nonconforming structure.
(e) Meetings, records and rules.
(1) All meetings and hearings of the board must be open to the public in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code.
(2) All records of the board are public records open to inspection at reasonable times and upon reasonable notice in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act, Chapter 552 of the Texas Government Code.
(3) The board shall adopt, subject to approval of city council, rules, not inconsistent with state law or city ordinances, governing its proceedings.