(A) Authority. The Planning Board may recommend and the Town Board shall decide petitions for appeals from an interpretation or decision made by the town staff or designated administrative agent and petitions for variances from the requirements of these regulations. Any reversal, modification or affirmation of an interpretation or any variance thus authorized will be entered in writing in the minutes of the Town Board with the justification set forth.
(B) Initiation. A petition for an appeal of an administrative interpretation or decision may be initiated by any person aggrieved or by any officer or department of the town. A petition for variance may be initiated only by the owner of the affected property, an agent authorized in writing to act on the owner's behalf, or a person having a written contractual interest in the affected property.
(1) Filing of notice of appeal. A notice of appeal, in the form prescribed by the Planning Director, must be filed with the planning staff within ten days of the day an administrative interpretation or decision is issued. The notice filed with the planning staff must be accompanied by a non-refundable filing fee as established by the town's Board of Commissioners. Failure to timely file the notice and fee will constitute a waiver of any rights to appeal under this article. The filing of the notice will require the officer whose action is appealed to transmit to the Town Manager and Planning Director all administrative papers, records and other information regarding the subject matter of the appeal.
(2) Standards for granting an appeal. The Planning Board may decide to reverse or modify the decision or interpretation under appeal upon finding an error in the application of these regulations on the part of the officer rendering the decision or interpretation.
(C) Filing of variance petition. A petition for variance, in the form prescribed by the Planning Director, must be filed with the planning staff, accompanied by a non-refundable filing fee as established by the Town Board.
(D) Standards for granting a variance.
(1) Before granting a variance, the Planning Board must determine that:
(a) The difficulty or hardship would result only from these regulations and from no other cause, including the actions of the owner or previous owners of the property;
(b) The difficulty or hardship is peculiar to the property in question and is not generally shared by other properties used for the same purposes;
(c) The relationship of the property to natural topography or to the nature of adjoining properties warrants relief from the standard in question; or
(d) The difficulty or hardship from the application of these regulations would prevent the owner from making a reasonable use of the property. The fact that the property could be utilized more profitably with the variance than without the variance will not be considered as grounds for granting the variance.
(2) The granting of a variance would permit the preservation of an historic structure or site, or a significant natural feature.
(E) Action by Planning Board. The Planning Board may approve or deny the variance application, or approve with conditions relating to the intent and standards of the ordinance. The reasons that the Planning Board used to reach its decision shall be recorded in the minutes.
(F) Rehearing. When the Planning Board has denied any petition for a variance, it will not thereafter accept any other petition for the same variance affecting the same subdivision or any portion thereof, unless it finds that there have been substantial changes in the conditions or circumstances relating to the matter.
(G) Effect of grant of variance. After the approval of a variance by the Planning Board, the petitioner will be required to follow the procedures for preliminary and final plat approval in order to proceed with development of the subject property. All decisions made by administrative officers under those procedures will comply with the variance to these regulations granted to the petitioner by the Planning Board.
(2003 Code, § 8-2.4) (Adopted 4-1-2003)