(a) Variations From Area and Yard Regulations.
(1) The Board of Zoning Appeals may permit variations of minimum area and yard regulations of not more than ten percent for a lot of record if, because of peculiar shape or because of topographical conditions of the lot, such variations are necessary to obtain appropriate development, provided the Board finds that privacy will not be impaired and that light and ventilation will be adequate on such lot and not unduly diminished on adjoining lots.
(2) In residential districts the Board may permit a modification of the side yard regulation so as to allow a one-story garage to be attached to an existing dwelling and to project into a required side yard, provided that the resulting distance, including projections, is not less than three feet to the nearest lot line and not less than twenty feet to a dwelling on an adjoining lot.
(3) In residential districts the Board may permit modifications of the side yard regulations for main and accessory buildings on corner lots of record, provided the Board finds that privacy of the occupants and the sight lines of the street intersection will not be unduly impaired and that the adjoining properties will not be unduly deprived of light and ventilation.
(b) Variations From Height Regulations. The Board may permit an increase in the height of a proposed or existing building or part thereof to the same height as an adjacent building nonconforming as to height, if such increased height is essential to the completion of the building as originally planned and if the adjoining properties will not be unduly deprived of light and air.
(c) Variations From Nonconforming Buildings and Uses. The Board shall have no power to authorize, as a variance, the establishment of a nonconforming building or use where none previously existed, or the extension of or change in a previously existing nonconforming use.
(d) Variations From Sign Regulations. The Board may permit variations of not more than a ten percent increase in the area of signs as set forth in this Zoning Code in the rebuilding or relocation of an existing sign, provided the Board finds that the sign will not create unsightliness or unduly decrease the visibility of an adjoining establishment or sign.
(e) Protection of Adjoining Property. The Board, upon making various determinations, shall endeavor to protect adjoining property, to assure the safety of pedestrians and the convenience of traffic movements within the area in question, and may require the provision of curbs, guardrails, walls, fences or other landscape or protective features to further the purposes of this Zoning Code.
(Ord. 167-93. Passed 8-15-94.)