A. Authority: The Board of Trustees shall decide all applications for variations of the provisions of this Title after a public hearing held before the Zoning Board of Appeals on such notice as shall be required by the Illinois Compiled Statutes. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall hold public hearings upon all applications for variations and shall report its recommendations to the Board of Trustees as to whether a requested variation would be in harmony with its general purpose and intent, and shall recommend a variation only where it shall have made findings of fact specifying the reason or reasons for recommending the variations. Such findings shall be based upon the standards prescribed in subsection D of this Section. No variation shall be granted by the Board of Trustees without such findings of fact. In the case of a variation where the Zoning Board of Appeals fails to recommend the variation, it can only be adopted by ordinance with the favorable vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the Trustees.
B. Initiation: An application for a variation shall be in triplicate and may be made by any governmental office, department, board, bureau or commission, or by any person having a freehold interest, a possessory interest entitled to exclusive possession, a contractual interest which may become a freehold interest, or any exclusive possessory interest applicable to the land, or land and improvements described in the application for a variation.
C. Processing: An application for a variation shall be filed with the Village Clerk who shall forward one copy of such application to the Zoning Board of Appeals for processing in accordance with applicable statutes of the State and one copy to the Board of Trustees.
D. Standards:
1. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall not recommend a variation of the provisions of this Title as authorized in this Section unless it shall have made findings of fact based upon the evidence presented to it on the following specific issues that:
a. The property in question cannot yield a reasonable return if permitted to be used only under the conditions allowed by the regulations governing the district in which it is located.
b. The plight of the owner is due to unique circumstances.
c. The variation, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the locality.
2. For the purpose of supplementing the above standards, the Zoning Board of Appeals, in making the determination whether there are practical difficulties or particular hardships, shall also take into consideration the extent to which the following facts, favorable to the applicant, have been established by the evidence that:
a. The particular physical surroundings, shape, or topographical conditions of the specific property involved would bring a particular hardship upon the owner as distinguished from a mere inconvenience if the strict letter of the regulation were to be carried out.
b. The condition upon which the petition for variation is based would not be applicable generally to the other property within the same zoning classification.
c. The granting of the variation will not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to other property or improvements in the neighborhood in which the property is located.
d. The proposed variation will not impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property, or substantially increase the danger of fire, or otherwise endanger the public safety or substantially diminish or impair property values within the neighborhood.
e. That the purpose of the variation is not based exclusively upon a desire to make more money out of the property.
f. That the alleged difficulty or hardship has not been created by any person presently having an interest in the property.
3. The Zoning Board of Appeals may recommend and the Board of Trustees may require such conditions and restrictions upon the premises benefitted by a variation as may be necessary to comply with the standards set forth in this Section to reduce or minimize the injurious effect of such variation upon other property in the neighborhood, and to implement the general purpose and intent of this Title.
E. Unauthorized Variations: The variation procedure shall in no case be used to accomplish a result which could otherwise be achieved by a rezoning of the property involved, such as, but not limited to, establishment or expansion of a use not permitted in a residence district; authorizing the construction of residences in other than residence districts; nor authorizing other than single-family detached residences in the R1, R2, R3 and R4 Districts.
F. Reapplications: Any person having been denied a variation to the provisions of this Title respecting a specific parcel of property may not reapply for a like variation on said real property until the period of one year has elapsed since the denial of the application for variation by the Village President and Board of Trustees. (Ord. G-60, 3-22-1966; Ord. G-137, 9-14-1971)