(a) The Building and Zoning Commissioner shall be responsible for determining and enforcing compliance with this Chapter. Decisions rendered by the Building and Zoning Commissioner on interpretation of the regulations may be appealed to the Zoning Board of Appeals within thirty days after the decision.
(b) Applicants may request variances from conformance with these regulations to the Zoning Board of Appeals. A variance may be granted by the Board if all of the following conditions are met and can be demonstrated by the applicant:
(1) Exceptional topographic conditions or other extraordinary conditions apply to the building or land such that the strict application of the terms of this Chapter would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties or undue hardship upon the owner, from which a variance would relieve the difficulties or hardship, provided such relief could be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and without substantially impairing the intent of this Chapter.
(2) The special circumstances or conditions applying to the building or land in question are peculiar to such lot or property and do not apply generally to other land or buildings in the vicinity.
(3) The granting of the variance is necessary for the preservation and enjoyment of a substantial property right and not merely to serve as a convenience to the applicant or a desire not to comply with the regulations. As such, a variance may not be granted because the applicant seeks to gain or maintain a competitive business advantage, the applicant does not have the resources to comply with the regulations, the applicant is somehow disadvantaged because of the existence of other buildings or lands which have been granted variances or contain nonconforming signs, or the applicant has already proceeded forward with the erection of a sign without obtaining a required permit.
(4) That the condition from which relief or variance is sought did not result from action by the applicant.
(5) The authorizing of the variance will not diminish or impair the established property values within the surrounding area or in any other respect impair the health, safety, convenience or general welfare of the inhabitants of the City. (Ord. 044-2008. Passed 3-10-08.)