(A) Creation. A Board of Adjustment is created which shall consist of five members and which shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees. All further reference to the Board of Adjustment in this section shall hereafter be made to “the Board”.
(Prior Code, § 17.28.010)
(B) Membership and organization.
(1) Members. The Board of Adjustment shall consist of five members appointed by the Board of Trustees. Members shall be resident taxpayers of the town.
(2) Terms of office. One member shall be appointed for a term of one year; two for a term of two years; and three for a term of three years. Thereafter, all appointments to the Board of Adjustment shall be made for terms of three years. When vacancies occur prior to the expiration of a regular term, they shall be filled in the same manner as regular appointments, but shall serve only until the expiration of the term in which the vacancy occurred.
(3) Chairperson. The members of the Board of Adjustment shall elect from among their numbers a Chairperson to serve for a term of one year.
(4) Expenses. In the performance of its duties, the Board of Adjustment may incur such expenses as shall be authorized by the Board of Trustees, but no member shall receive any compensation for their services.
(5) Removal of members. The Board of Trustees shall have the power to remove any member from the Board of Adjustment for cause after public hearings.
(Prior Code, § 17.28.020)
(C) Duties and powers.
(1) To meet at the call of the Chairperson, by his or her request or by the request of the Zoning Administrator, or by any party wishing to appeal the decision of the same;
(2) To adopt any rules necessary to transact the Board of Adjustment’s business or to expedite its functions or powers so long as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter;
(3) To vote upon the granting of an adjustment to requirements of this chapter, which vote must require the concurrence of more than one-half the members of the Board of Adjustment in order to reverse an order of the Zoning Administrator;
(4) To keep minutes of the proceedings of each meeting, which shall be filed in the office of the Board of Adjustment, who may designate the Zoning Administrator to keep such files, and which shall be of public record;
(5) To permit the public to attend and to be heard at all of its meetings;
(6) To notify in writing the Zoning Administrator, the owner involved and the Planning Commission of all decisions made, resolutions passed, hearings scheduled or permits authorized;
(7) To publish notice of or cause to be published, or cause the property to be posted at least 15 days prior to the date of hearings, where such hearings are deemed necessary by the Board of Adjustment;
(8) The Board of Adjustment shall have the power to interpret this chapter, in including any uncertainty as to boundary location, or meaning of wording so long as this interpretation is not contrary to the purpose and intent of this chapter;
(9) The Board of Adjustment shall have the power to grant variances from the provisions of this chapter, but only where all of the following conditions are found to exist:
(a) The variance would not authorize any use other than uses enumerated as unconditionally permitted uses in the district;
(b) An unnecessary hardship to the owner could be shown to occur if the provisions of this chapter were literally followed;
(c) The circumstances found to constitute a hardship either were not created by the owner, or were in existence at the time of the passage of the ordinance codified in this chapter, are not due to nor are the result of general conditions in the district and cannot reasonably be corrected;
(d) The variance would not injure the value, use of or prevent the proper access of light and air to the adjacent properties; and
(e) The variance would not be out of harmony with the intent and purpose of this chapter.
(10) The Board of Adjustment shall act in strict accordance with all of the other applicable laws of the state and the county. All appeals to the Board of Adjustment shall be in writing and on such a form as shall be prescribed by the Board of Adjustment. Every appeal shall indicate what provision of this chapter is involved, what relief from these provisions is being sought, and the grounds upon which such an appeal is being sought, as required in §§ 156.075 through 156.079 of this chapter. The Chairperson of the Board of Adjustment shall then within ten days, call a meeting of the Board of Adjustment for the purpose of the review of the requested appeal. At the same time, a copy of the requested appeal shall be transmitted to the Planning Commission for an opinion, which opinion shall be returned to the Board of Adjustment before the date set for hearing the appeal. Failure of the Planning Commission to return the requested opinion shall be considered as its approval of the Board of Adjustment’s granting of the requested appeal.
(Prior Code, § 17.28.030)
(D) Appeals from the Board of Adjustment. Any further appeal from the decision of the Board of Adjustment may be made to the courts, as provided by law; provided, however, that, such appeal is made prior to 60 days following the date of the notification of the Board of Adjustment’s decision.
(Prior Code, § 17.28.040)
(Ord. 95-3, passed - -1995)