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Annually, no later than the second Monday of the first month of the calendar year, the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) shall elect, at a minimum, a Chairperson and Secretary. The BZA shall adopt rules which are appropriate and necessary to conduct its affairs in keeping with the provisions of this zoning ordinance. All meetings shall be held at the call of the Chairperson and at such other times as the BZA may determine. The Chairperson, or in his/her absence the acting Chairperson, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses. All meeting shall be open to the public. The BZA shall keep a record of all minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question presented or, if absent or failing to vote, indicate such fact, and shall keep all such records of its examinations and other official actions. All such records shall be public records and shall be immediately filed with the applicable permit and/or application contained in the BZA files.
In exercising its duties, the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) may, as long as such action is in conformity with the terms of this Zoning Ordinance, reverse, affirm, wholly or in part, or modify the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from and may make such order, requirement, decision, or determination as ought to be made and, to that end, shall have the powers of the Zoning Inspector from whom the appeal is taken. The concurring vote of three (3) members of the BZA shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination of the Zoning Inspector, or to decide in favor of the applicant on any matter upon which it is required to pass under this Zoning Ordinance or to effect any variation of this Ordinance. For the purpose of this Ordinance, the Board shall have the following responsibilities:
(a) To hear and decide zoning appeals where it is alleged that there is an error in any order, requirement, decision, interpretation, or determination made by the Zoning Inspector.
(b) To authorize any variances from the terms of this Zoning Ordinance as will not be contrary to the public interest, where owing to the special conditions, a literal enforcement of this Ordinance will result in unnecessary hardship, and so that the spirit of this Zoning Ordinance shall be observed and substantial justice done.
(c) To grant such conditional use permits as specified in the Official Schedule of District Regulations and under the conditions specified in Chapter 1155 and such additional safeguards as will uphold the intent of this Zoning Ordinance.
It is the intent of this Zoning Ordinance, that all questions of interpretation and enforcement shall be first presented to the Zoning Inspector, and that such questions shall be presented to the Board of Zoning Appeals only on appeal from the decision of the Zoning Inspector, and that recourse from the decision of the Board shall be to the Courts as provided by law. It is further the intent of this Ordinance that the duties of the Village Council in connection with this Ordinance shall not include hearing and deciding questions of interpretation and enforcement that may arise. The procedure for deciding such questions shall be stated in this section and this Ordinance. Under this Ordinance the Village Council shall have only the duties of considering and adopting or rejecting proposed amendments or the repeal of this Ordinance as provided by law, approving or rejecting planned unit development projects and of establishing a schedule of fees and costs as stated in Section 1141.20. Nothing in this Ordinance shall be interpreted to prevent any official of the Village of Richwood from appealing, a decision of the BZA to the Courts as provided in the Revised Code. Any such appeal shall be made within thirty (30) days of the Board's written decision.
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