(A) General. A Board of Adjustment is hereby created, such Board to consist of five members appointed by the City Council. All members shall be residents of the city. No member of the Board shall hold other elective or appointive office in the city or county government. (See § 158.003 of this chapter for extra-territorial members.)
(B) Term of office. The members of the Board of Adjustment shall be appointed for the following terms: one for a term of one year; one for a term of two years; one for a term of three years; one for a term of four years; one for a term of five years. Thereafter, as their terms expire, each new appointment shall be for a term of five years.
(C) Vacancies. If a vacancy occurs, by resignation or otherwise, among the members of the Board, the City Council shall appoint a member for the unexpired term. The Council shall also have the power to remove any member of the Board for cause, after a public hearing.
(D) Compensation. Members of the Board of Adjustment shall serve without salary.
(E) Quorum; votes necessary for official action. A majority of members of the Board of Adjustment shall constitute a quorum. No action of the Board is official, however, unless authorized by a majority of the Board. The concurring vote of at least a majority of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of the Zoning Administrator, or to decide in favor of the applicant any matter upon which the Board is authorized to render decisions.
(F) Procedural rules; minutes and records of meetings and actions. The Board of Adjustment shall adopt such rules concerning the filing of appeals, and application for variances and conditional uses, giving of notice and conduct of hearings as shall be necessary to carry out its duties as defined in this chapter. The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, keep records of its examinations and other official acts and shall record the vote of each member upon each question, or if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact in the minutes. All minutes and records shall be filed in the office of the Board and shall be of public record.
(G) Offices; employees; expenditures. The City Council shall provide suitable offices for the holding of hearings and the preservation of records, documents and accounts of the Board of Adjustment.
(H) Fund appropriation. The City Council shall appropriate funds to carry out the duties of the Board of Adjustment and the Board shall have the authority to expend, under regular procedure, all sums appropriated to it for the purpose and activities authorized herein.
(I) Meetings; notices. The Board of Adjustment shall meet at the call of the Chairperson and at such other times as the Board of Adjustment may determine. The notice of the time and place of such meetings shall be published as prescribed in Iowa Code §§ 362.3 and 414.4 or any successor provisions thereto, to wit: not less than seven, nor more than 20, days before the date set for the meeting of the Board of Adjustment. Such notice shall contain a statement of the particular purpose of such meeting and a brief description of the location of the property under consideration at such meeting. All meetings of the Board of Adjustment shall be open to the public.
(J) Powers and duties. The Board of Adjustment shall:
(1) Hear and determine appeals from, and review, any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Zoning Administrator charged with the enforcement of this chapter;
(2) Hear and decide all matters referred to it, or upon which it is required to pass under this chapter;
(3) Hear and pass upon applications for variances, when a property owner or owner’s agent shows that a strict application of the terms of this chapter relating to the use, construction or alteration of buildings or structures, or the use of land imposes upon the owner’s practical difficulties or particular hardship; and
(4) Hold public hearings and approve or disapprove each application for a conditional use received in compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
(K) Rehearing. No rehearing shall be held on a denied appeal or application for variance or conditional use for a period of 12 months from the date of such denial.
(L) Judicial review. All decisions and findings of the Board of Adjustment on appeals or applications for variances shall be subject to review by court as by law may be provided.
(2011 Code, § 34.0502) (Ord. 2373, passed 4-20-2020)