(A) Application. An application for a variance, special use permit, or amendment may be made by any person owning or having an interest in the subject property. Petitions for zoning amendments may also be filed by a member of the County Board, by the Zoning Board of Appeals, and by the Zoning Administrator. The application shall be filed with the Zoning Administrator, in a form as required by the Zoning Administrator and the Zoning Board of Appeals. The application shall be accompanied by any information, plans, plats, and/or data as required by the Zoning Administrator and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
(B) Filing fees.
(1) Any application for an amendment, special use, or variance shall be accompanied by a fee. The fee shall be established by resolution of the County Board. All fees shall be collected by the Zoning Administrator for deposit with the County Treasurer. There shall be no fee, however, in the case of applications filed in the public interest by members of the County Board, the Zoning Administrator, or the Zoning Board of Appeals.
(2) An additional filing fee shall be paid in connection with the filing of any amended petition or request in the event the terms of this chapter require the republication of notice of hearing on the petition or request. The additional fee shall be in the amount equal to one-half of the original filing fee; provided, however, that no additional fee shall be required in the event no notice of a hearing on the original petition or request has been published in a newspaper under the terms of this chapter.
(3) In cases where additional hearings and/or meetings are required because of the complex nature of an application, an additional fee shall be assessed by the County Board. The additional fee shall cover the extraordinary costs of newspaper notice, per diem expenses of member of the County Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals, secretarial work, photo copying, travel, postage, and the like.
(C) Public hearings. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall hold a public hearing on each application at a time and place designated by the Chairperson. The hearing shall be conducted and a record of the proceedings shall be preserved in a manner as the Zoning Board of Appeals shall, by rule, prescribe from time to time.
(D) Notice of public hearing.
(1) Notice of the time and place of the public hearing shall be published at least once, at least 15 days in advance thereof in a newspaper of general circulation published in the township or road district in which the property is located. If no newspaper is published in the townships or road district, then the notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county and having circulation where the property is located. In addition, at least 15 days prior to each hearing, a copy of the notice shall be mailed to the clerk of each municipality, the corporate limits of which lie within one and one-half miles of the property in question. Supplemental or additional notices may be published or distributed as the Zoning Board of Appeals may, by rule, prescribe from time to time.
(2) At least 15 days before the hearing, a sign shall be posted on the road or street frontage of the property in question, giving notice that an application for zoning action has been filed.
(3) Where the application is initiated by a Board Member of this county, the Zoning Administrator, or by the Zoning Board of Appeals of its own motion, a true copy of the application or of the Board’s order shall be served upon the owner or owners of record in person or by certified United States mail within ten days after the filing of the application or the entry of the Board order initiating the proceeding. Where the application is filed by a person having an interest in the subject property, a notice and copy of the application shall be served by the applicant in like manner upon each of the other co-owners or those having an interest. The foregoing notice and service requirements shall be in addition to the posting and publishing requirements of this division (D).
(E) Required vote of the Zoning Board of Appeals. After a public hearing, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall vote to determine its action or recommendation on the application. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall not recommend in favor of an application unless the Board shall make findings as required in §§ 155.027, 155.028, and 155.029, where applicable. The affirmative vote of three members of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be necessary to act or recommend in favor of an application.
(F) Action by the County Board.
(1) The County Board shall not act upon an application until it has received a written report and recommendation from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
(2) The County Board may, with or without further public hearing as the majority of the members thereof shall by motion direct, approve, or disapprove, or in part approve and in part disapprove, the recommendation of the Board of Appeals. Any application which fails to receive a recommendation for approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals shall not be passed by the County Board except by the favorable vote of three-fourths of all the members of the County Board.
(3) In addition to the preceding regulations, the following shall also apply to the approval of special use permits and amendments, only:
(a) An amendment to the text of the zoning ordinance may be passed by a simple majority of the elected County Board members, unless written protests against the proposed text amendment are signed by 5% of the land owners of the county, in which case the amendment shall not be passed except by the favorable vote of three-fourths of all the members of the County Board; and
(b) Special use permits and amendments to the zoning map may be passed by a simple majority of the elected County Board members, except that in case of written protest against any application that is either: signed by the owner or owners of at least 20% of the land in question; or signed by the owner or owners of land immediately touching or immediately across a street, alley, or public right-of-way from at least 20% of the perimeter of the land in question, or in cases where the land affected lies within one and one-half miles of the limits of a zoned municipality, or in the case of a proposed text amendment to the zoning ordinance by resolution of the corporate authorities of the zoned municipality with limits nearest adjacent, filed with the County Clerk, the amendment shall not be passed except by the favorable vote of three-fourths of all the members of the County Board. In those cases, a copy of the written protest shall be served by the protestor or protestors on the applicant for the proposed zoning action and a copy upon the applicant’s attorney, if any, by certified mail at the address of the applicant and attorney shown in the application filed with the Zoning Administrator.
(G) Effect of denial. No application which has been denied wholly or in part by the County Board shall be resubmitted for a period of one year from the date of the order of denial except on grounds of changed conditions.
(Ord. O-95-2-12, passed 2-9-2012; Res. G-4111-6-14, passed 6-12-2014)