(A) Establishment and appointment. As part of this chapter, a Board of Zoning Appeals is hereby re-established and shall consist of five members, appointed as follows:
(1) Four citizen members appointed by the Town Council of whom one must be a member of the Plan Commission and three must not be members of the Plan Commission;
(2) One citizen member appointed by the Plan Commission, who must be a member of the Plan Commission other than the member appointed under division (1) above.
(B) Qualification of members. The members appointed to the Board or Zoning Appeals must have the following qualifications:
(1) A member must be a town resident;
(2) No member may hold other elective or appointed offices in the town government.
(C) Term of appointments. Each new appointment to the Board of Zoning Appeals shall be made for a term of four years.
(1) The term of each member shall expire on the first Monday of January of the fourth year after the year of the member's appointment. A member serves until his successor is appointed and qualified. A member is eligible for reappointment.
(2) If a vacancy occurs among the members of the Board of Zoning Appeals, the appointing authority (Town Council or Plan Commission) that had appointed the vacating member shall appoint a member for the unexpired term of the vacating member. In addition, the appointing authority may appoint an alternate member to participate with the Board in any hearing or decision in which the regular member it has appointed has a disqualification under division (D) of this section.
(3) A member of the Board of Zoning Appeals who misses three consecutive regular meetings of the Board shall be treated as if he or she had resigned.
(D) Conflict. A member of the Board of Zoning Appeals may not participate in a hearing or decision of the Board concerning a zoning matter in which he or she has a direct or indirect financial interest. The Board shall enter in its records:
(1) The fact that a regular member has such a disqualification; and,
(2) The name of the alternate member, if any, who participates in the hearing or decision in place of the regular member.
(E) Proceedings of the Board of Zoning Appeals. The Board shall adopt rules necessary to the conduct of its affairs in keeping with the provisions of this chapter.
(1) At the first meeting of each year the Board will elect a Chairperson and a Vice-Chairperson from its members.
(2) Meetings shall be at the call of the Chairperson and at other times as the Board may determine.
(3) The Chairperson, or in his or her absence, the Vice-Chairperson, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses.
(4) All meetings shall be open to the public.
(5) The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member, or if absent or failing to vote.
(6) The Board shall keep record of its examinations and other official actions, all of which shall be public record and be immediately filed in the office of the Town Clerk-Treasurer.
(7) A majority of Board members shall constitute a quorum.
(8) The concurring vote of three members of the Board shall be necessary to decide in favor of the applicant any matter upon which the Board is required to pass under the provisions of this chapter.
(F) Duties of the Board of Zoning Appeals. For the purpose of this chapter, the Board of Zoning Appeals has the following specific duties:
(1) To hear and to determine appeals from and review any decision or determination made by the Zoning Administrator;
(2) To hear and to determine special exceptions to the terms of this chapter;
(3) To authorize variances from this chapter in cases where a literal enforcement of this chapter would result in undue hardship, provided that the public interest is not injured by granting the variance.
(Ord. 172, §§ 3-200 - 3-205, passed 4-5-90)