(A)
Appeals may be taken from any decision or order of the public officer to the Zoning Board of Adjustment of the Town of Murphy.
(B) An appeal from any decision or order of the public officer may be taken by any person aggrieved thereby or by any officer, board, or commission of the city. Any appeal from the public officer shall be taken within ten days from the rendering of the decision or service of the order by filing with the public officer and the Zoning Board of Adjustment a notice of appeal which shall specify the grounds upon which the appeal is based. Upon the filing of any notice of appeal, the public officer shall forthwith transmit to the Zoning Board of Adjustment all the papers constituting the record upon which the decision appealed from was made. When an appeal is from a decision of the public officer refusing to allow the person aggrieved thereby to do any act, his or her decision shall remain in force until modified or reversed. When any appeal is from a decision of the public officer requiring the person aggrieved to do any act, the appeal shall have the effect of suspending the requirement until the hearing by the Zoning Board of Adjustment unless the public officer certifies to the Zoning Board of Adjustment, after the notice of appeal is filed with him or her, that because of facts stated in the certificate (a copy of which shall be furnished the appellant), a suspension of his or her requirement would cause imminent peril to life or property. In that case the requirement shall not be suspended except by a restraining order, which may be granted for due cause shown upon not less than one-day's written notice to the public officer, by the Zoning Board of Adjustment, or by a court of record upon petition.
(C) The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall fix a reasonable time for hearing appeals, shall give due notice to the parties, and shall render its decision within a reasonable time. Any party may appear in person or by agent or attorney. The Zoning Board of Adjustment may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the decision or order appealed from, and may make any decision and order that in its opinion ought to be made in the matter, and to that end it shall have all the powers of the public officer, but the concurring vote of four-fifths of the members of the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be necessary to reverse or modify any decision or order of the public officer. The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall have power also in passing upon appeals, when practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships would result from carrying out the strict letter of this chapter, to adapt the application of the chapter to the necessities of the case to the end that the spirit of the chapter shall be observed, public health and safety secured, and substantial justice done.
(Ord. passed 8-10-1987; Am. Ord. passed 5-3-2021)