The City Council, the Plan Commission, the Board of Zoning Appeals, and the staff have administrative and decision-making responsibilities with regard to this chapter as set forth in this section. The following table summarizes their roles.
Review and Decision-Making Authority
S= Staff review, R=Review and recommend, D= Final decision, A= Appeal
Process
|
Staff | Plan Commission | Board of Zoning Appeals | City Council |
Map amendment (rezoning), including overlay zone | S | R | D | |
Text amendment | S | R | D | |
Preliminary planned unit development | S | R | D | |
Final planned unit development | S | D | ||
Development plan | S | D | ||
Variance | S | R-Use Variances ONLY | D | |
Conditional use | S | D | ||
Administrative adjustment | D | |||
Improvement location permit | D | A | A | |
Interpretation | D | A | ||
(A) City Council.
(1) General authority. As provided in I.C. 36-4-6-2, the City Council serves as the legislative body of Seymour.
(2) Powers and duties.
(a) In accordance with I.C. 36-7-4-207 the City Council shall appoint one of its members to serve as a member of the Plan Commission.
(b) In accordance with I.C. 36-7-4-902, the City Council shall appoint one person residing within the city or its extraterritorial jurisdictional area to serve as a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals.
(c) The City Council shall, after report and recommendation from the Plan Commission, approve or deny any proposed amendment to the text of this chapter or to the zoning map.
(d) If the Council rejects or amends a proposal to amend the ordinance text recommended favorably by the Plan Commission, the Council shall return the proposal to the Plan Commission with the written reasons for the rejection or amendment, as provided in (B)(1) and in I.C. 36-7-4-607.
(e) As provided in I.C. 36-7-4-607 and 36-7-4-608, if the Council fails to act on a recommendation from the Plan Commission within the time limit prescribed by the Indiana Code, the Plan Commission recommendation stands as if the Council had acted upon it.
(B) Plan Commission.
(1) Powers and duties.
(a) The Plan Commission shall adopt rules for the conduct of its hearings and shall adopt by rule a schedule of reasonable fees for the following:
1. Processing and hearing administrative appeals and petitions for rezoning, conditional uses, and variances;
2. Issuing permits; and
3. Other official actions taken in accordance with I.C. 36-7-4.
(b) The Plan Commission shall provide for notice and conduct public hearings on amendments to the map or text of this chapter, use variances, final planned unit developments, and development plans.
(c) The Plan Commission shall forward proposals to amend the zoning map or the text of this chapter to the City Council with a favorable, unfavorable, or no recommendation in accordance with I.C. 36-7-4-607 and 36-7-4-608 and the Plan Commission's Rules of Procedure.
(2) Membership. The members of the Seymour Plan Commission shall be appointed In accordance with I.C. 36-7-4-208 and 36-7-4-214.
(C) Board of Zoning Appeals.
(1) Powers and duties.
(a) The Board of Zoning Appeals shall hear and decide all applications for variances and conditional uses and all appeals from administrative decisions made under the provisions of this chapter.
(b) The Board of Zoning Appeals shall provide for public notice to interested parties of hearings before the Board in accordance with I.C. 5-3-1-2 and I.C. 5-3-1-4 at least ten days before the date set for the hearing. The Board shall, by rule, determine who are interested parties, how notice is to be given to them, and who is required to give that notice. The party taking the appeal or applying for the exception, use, or variance, may be required to assume the cost of public notice and due notice to interested parties.
(c) The staff may appear before the Board at the hearing and present evidence relevant to the effect on the Comprehensive Plan or Zoning Ordinance of the granting of a variance or the determination of any other matter.
(d) The Board of Zoning Appeals shall make a decision on any matter that it is required to hear either at the meeting at which the matter is first presented, or at the conclusion of the hearing on that matter, if it is continued. Within five days of making a decision, the Board shall file a written copy of its decision in the office of the Board.
(e) The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, keep records of its examinations and other official actions, prepare findings, and record the specifics of each vote on all actions taken. All minutes and records shall be filed in the offices of the Board and shall be a public record.
(f) The Board of Zoning Appeals shall adopt rules of procedure concerning the filing of appeals, applications for variances, and conditional uses, giving of notice, conduct of hearings and other such matters as may be necessary to carry out its duties under this chapter. At the first meeting of each year, the Board shall elect a Chair and Vice-Chair from among its members.
(2) Membership. The members of the Board of Zoning Appeals shall be appointed In accordance with I.C. 36-7-4-902.
(3) Alternates.
(a) The Mayor, City Council, and Plan Commission each may appoint alternate members to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
(b) Alternate members shall have all of the rights and privileges of members of the Board of Zoning Appeals and may participate in the discussion and evaluation of petitions before the Board.
(c) An alternate member shall serve as a voting member of the Board of Zoning Appeals and may be entitled to vote when the regular member for whom the person is an alternate is absent or abstains from participating in consideration of a matter before the Board.
(d) The alternate members shall have the same qualifications as the regular members as specified in (C)(2).
(4) Removal of members. The appointing authority (Mayor, City Council, or Plan Commission) may remove a member from the Board of Zoning Appeals for cause. The appointing authority shall mail notice of the removal, along with written reason for the removal, to the member at his residence address. A member who is removed may, within 30 days after receiving notice of the removal, appeal the removal to the Circuit or Superior Court of the county.
(5) Limitation on re-filing. Any petition approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals, unless otherwise stipulated, shall expire and become void one year after the date of its granting unless the petitioner or his agent has substantially put into effect the use on the property for which the petition was approved. Within 90 days of approval of a petition, the petitioner shall apply for an improvement location permit, or building permit as appropriate.
(6) Majority vote required. An affirmative vote by a majority of the Board of Zoning Appeals shall be required to approve or deny a petition before the Board.
(D) Staff.
(1) Authority. The staff shall have the authority to take those lawful actions necessary to enforce the terms of this chapter on behalf of the Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals.
(2) Powers and duties. The authority to perform inspections, review applications, issue permits, and grant administrative adjustments is hereby delegated to the staff.
(a) The staff is authorized to issue improvement location permits as described in § 157.002.
(b) The staff is authorized to make inspections of all lands located within the jurisdiction of the Plan Commission in order to enforce this chapter. In order to execute inspections, the staff shall have the right to enter upon any premises at any reasonable time for the purpose of carrying out their duties in the enforcement of these regulations. If the owner or occupant of the premises refuses to permit entry, the staff may make application to any judge of the Circuit or Superior Courts of Jackson County, Indiana, for the issuance of an administrative search warrant. Such application shall identify the premises upon which entry is sought and the purpose for which entry is desired. The application shall state the facts giving rise to the belief that a violation of these regulations exists on such premises.
(c) The staff is authorized to approve administrative adjustments of no more than 10% to any numerical dimensional or intensity standard in accordance with the following criteria:
1. The adjustment is requested because it eliminates an unnecessary inconvenience to the applicant and will have no significant adverse impact on the health, safety or general welfare of surrounding property owners or the general public;
2. The requested administrative modification is of a technical nature and is required to compensate for some unusual aspect of the site or the proposed development that is not shared by landowners in general;
3. The adjustment does not alter access to property nor on-site circulation; and
4. The adjustment does not decrease the amount of off-street parking to an amount not adequate for the use. In determining the amount of parking that is adequate, the staff shall consider the amount otherwise required by the zoning ordinance for this use, the information available from the Institute of Traffic Engineers, empirical studies of the parking needs for the use.
(3) Interpretation. The Building Commissioner is hereby authorized to interpret the various provisions of this chapter. The Building Commissioner's interpretation may be appealed to the Board of Zoning Appeals. The Building Commissioner shall follow the rules of interpretation contained in § 157.012.
(Ord. 17, 2006, passed 11-27-2006; Am. Ord. 14, 2008, passed 6-9-2008)