(A) Creation and membership. A Board of Appeals is hereby authorized to be established. The word BOARD, when used in this section, shall be construed to mean the Board of Appeals. The said Board shall consist of seven members appointed by the City Council. The members of said Board shall serve respectively for the following terms (or until their respective successors are appointed and qualified): one for one year, one for two years, one for three years, one for four years, one for five years, one for six years, and one for seven years, the successor to each member so appointed to serve for a term of five years. One of the members of said Board shall be designated by the City Council as Chairperson of said Board and shall hold said office as Chairperson until his or her successor is appointed. Such Chairperson or, in his or her absence, the Acting Chairperson, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses. The City Council shall have the power to remove any member of said Board for cause and after a public hearing. Vacancies upon said Board shall be filled for the unexpired term of the member whose place has become vacant in the manner herein provided for the appointment of such member.
(B) Meetings. All meetings of the Board of Appeals shall be held at the call of the Chairperson and at such other times as such Board may determine. No hearing shall be conducted without a quorum of the Board being present, which shall consist of a majority of all members. All hearings conducted by said Board shall be open to the public. The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon every question or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact and shall also keep records of its hearings and other official actions. Findings of facts shall be included in the minutes of each case of a requested variation, and the reasons for recommending or denying such variation shall be specified. Every rule or regulation, every amendment or repeal thereof, and every order, requirement, decision, or determination of the Board shall be filed immediately on the office of the Board and shall be a public record. The Board shall adopt its own rules of procedure not in conflict with this section or with the state statutes in such case made and provided.
(C) Appeal. An appeal may be taken to the Board of Appeals by any person or by any officer, department, board, or bureau of the city affected by a decision of the Building Inspector. Such appeal shall be taken within such time as shall be prescribed by the Board of Appeals be general rules by filing with the Building Inspector and with the Board of Appeals a notice of appeal, specifying the grounds thereof. The Building Inspector shall, forthwith, transmit to the Board all of the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.
(1) An appeal shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the Building Inspector certifies to the Board of Appeals after the notice of appeal had been filed with him or her that, by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his or her opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property; in which case, the proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order, which may be granted by the Board of Appeals or by a court of record on application, on notice to the Building Inspector and on due cause shown.
(2) The Board shall select a reasonable time and place for the hearing or the appeal and give due notice thereof to the parties and shall render a decision on the appeal without unreasonable delay. Any person may appear and testify at the hearing, either in person or by duly authorized agent or attorney.
(D) Application fees.
(1) All applicants filing any application for an appeal to the Board of Appeals of the city, under this chapter, shall pay a filing fee for their appeal in the amount of $200, which fee to be paid to the City Clerk at the time of filing such request.
(2) All applications requesting that a matter be referred by the City Council to the Board of Appeals of the city, for any determination, shall pay a fee of $200, such fee to be paid to the City Clerk of the city at the time of filing such request.
(3) All applicants requesting amendments or changes in this chapter shall pay a fee at the time of filing such a request with the City Clerk in the amount of $200, such fee to be paid to the City Clerk.
(4) All applicants requesting the City Council to take any action under this chapter, other than action named above, which such action requires a public hearing before any board or commission, shall pay a fee of $200, such fee to be paid to the City Clerk at the time of filing any such request.
(E) Jurisdiction. The Board of Appeals shall hear and decide appeals from any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by the Building Inspector. It shall also hear and decide all matters referred to it or upon which it is required to pass under this section.
(1) The Board may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify or amend the order, requirement, decision, or determination appealed from 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 also have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken.
(2) When a property owner shows that a strict application of the terms of this section relating to the use, construction, or alteration of buildings or structures or the use of land imposes upon him or her practical difficulties or particular hardships, then the Board may make such variations of the strict application of the terms of this section as are in harmony with its general purpose and intent when the Board is satisfied under the evidence heard before it that a granting of such variation will not merely serve as a convenience to the applicant, but it is necessary to alleviate some demonstrable hardship or difficulty so great as to warrant a variation from the Comprehensive Plan by this section created and set forth in the following instances:
(a) To permit the extension of a district where the boundary line of a district divides a lot in single ownership as shown on record;
(b) To permit the reconstruction of a nonconforming building which has destroyed or partially destroyed by fire or act of God where the Board shall find some compelling public necessary requiring a continuance of the nonconforming use, and in no case shall such permit be issued if its primary function is to continue a monopoly;
(c) To permit the erection and use of a building or the use of premises in any location for a public service corporation for public utility purposes which the Board deems reasonably necessary for the public convenience or welfare;
(d) To make a variance where (by reason of an exceptional situation, surroundings, or condition of a specific piece of property or by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness, or shape of a specific piece of property of record or by reason of exceptional topographical conditions) the strict application of any provision of this section would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties or particular hardship upon the owner of such property and amount to a practical confiscation of property, as distinguished from a mere inconvenience to such owner; provided, such relief can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and without substantially impairing the general purpose and intent of the Comprehensive Plan as established by the regulations and provisions contained in this section; and
(e) To interpret the provisions of this section where the street layout actually on the ground varies from the street layout as shown on the map fixing the several districts, which map is made a part of this section.
(3) In considering all appeals and all proposed variations to this section, the Board shall, before making any variation from the ordinance 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 or increase the danger of fire or endanger the public safety or 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 city. The concurring vote of four members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination of the Building Inspector or to decide in favor of the applicant any matter upon which it is authorized by this section to render decision or to effect any variance. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to give or grant to the Board the power or authority to alter or change this chapter, such power and authority being reserved to the City Council.
(F) Notice. The Board shall make no recommendation except in a specific case and after public hearing conducted by the Board. A notice of the time and place of such hearing shall be published in a paper of general circulation in the city at least once, not more than 30 or less than 15 days previous to the hearing. Such notice shall contain the particular address or location of the property for which the variation or other ruling by the Board is sought, as well as a brief description of the nature of the appeal and of what the proposed variance consists.
(G) Period of effect. No order of the Board permitting the erection or alteration of a building shall be valid for a period longer that six months, unless such use is established within such period; provided, however, where such use permitted is dependent upon the erection or alteration of a building, such order shall continue in force and effect if a building permit for said erection or alteration is obtained within such period and such erection or alteration is started and proceeds to completion in accordance with the terms of such permit.
(Prior Code, Chapter 24, Article 17) (Ord. 18 (Series 1985-1986), passed 10-6-1986)