CHAPTER 3
ZONING REGULATIONS

SECTION:

7-3-1: Zoning Commission

7-3-2: Board Of Adjustment

7-3-3: Zoning Regulations

7-3-3-1: Purpose

7-3-3-2: Definitions

7-3-3-3: Minimum Lot Area And Site Dimensions And Restrictions As To Structure Density

7-3-3-4: Setbacks

7-3-3-5: Building Height

7-3-3-6: Use Restrictions (Rep. by Res. 80-1997, 5-6-1997)

7-3-3-7: Authority To Grant Variances; Restrictions

7-3-3-8: Amendments

7-3-1: ZONING COMMISSION:

   A.   Commission Established; Appointment; Terms: A Zoning Commission is hereby established and authorized to define the business and residential boundaries of the entire Town and to draft zoning ordinances and regulations to be submitted to the Board of Trustees for its approval. The membership of the commission shall be composed of three (3) citizens to be appointed by the Board of Trustees, and the terms of each shall be fixed by the Board at the time they are appointed. (1990 Code)

   B.   Zoning Ordinance Adoption Procedure:

      1.   Purpose In View: Such ordinances and regulations shall be drafted in accordance with the master plan and designed to lessen congestion in the streets; to secure safety from fire, panic and other dangers; to promote health and the general welfare; to provide adequate light and air; to prevent the overcrowding of the land; to avoid undue concentration of population; to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks and other public requirements and facilities. Such regulations and ordinances shall be made with reasonable consideration, among other things, as to the character of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses, and with a view to conserving the value of buildings and land and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the Town.

      2.   Functions Of Zoning Commission: The Zoning Commission shall make a preliminary report to the Board of Trustees of its proposed business and residential districts and zoning ordinances and regulations, and before the commission submits its final report to the Board of Trustees, it shall hold public hearings on the preliminary report after giving at least fifteen (15) days' notice of the time and place of such hearing by publishing the notice in an official paper or paper of general circulation in the Town.

      3.   Adoption Of Zoning Ordinances: After the Zoning Commission submits a final report to the Board of Trustees, the Board of Trustees may adopt such a report and enact it into law by ordinance. However, any changes deemed necessary by the Board of Trustees may be made to the commission's final report before its adoption. After the Board of Trustees has passed such an ordinance or regulation and it has been published in accordance with law, a public hearing shall be conducted by the Board of Trustees after which such ordinances or regulations may be changed by the Board of Trustees if deemed proper by amending the ordinances or regulations previously adopted, publishing such amendments and giving notice of and conducting hearings relative to such amendments. No ordinances, regulations or amendments thereto shall become effective until after public hearings have been had. The Board of Trustees shall give official notice of any and all its hearings to be held in accordance with the provisions of subsection B2 of this section. (Ord. 81, 5-2-1949; amd. 1990 Code)

      4.   Amendments To Zoning Ordinances: Zoning ordinances or regulations may be, from time to time, amended, supplemented, changed, modified or repealed. The procedure set out in subsections B2 and B3 of this section shall be followed in making any amendments or changes to existing ordinances, regulations or district boundaries. In case, however, of a protest against such changes signed by the owners of twenty percent (20%) or more, either of the area of the lots included in such proposed change, or of those immediately adjacent in the rear thereof extending one hundred feet (100') therefrom, or of those directly opposite thereto extending one hundred feet (100') from the street frontage of such opposite lots, such amendment or change shall not become effective except by the favorable vote of three-fourths (3/4) of all the members of the Board of Trustees. The provisions in subsection B2 of this Section relative to public hearings and official notice shall apply equally to all changes or amendments. (Ord. 81, 5-2-1949)

   C.   Master Plan Established: The Town's Master Plan, dated March 7, 1989, is hereby adopted by reference as though set out herein in full. A copy of the same is on file in the office of the Town Clerk and Recorder for public inspection. (1990 Code)

7-3-2: BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT:

   A.   Board Established; Composition; Appointment And Term: A Board of Adjustment is hereby established to exercise the powers enumerated and in conformity with the provisions of subsection 7-3-2B below. The Board of Adjustment shall be composed of five (5) members, each to be appointed by the Board of Trustees, by majority decision, for terms of three (3) years each. Members may be reappointed at the end of their term. (Ord. 81, 5-2-1949; 1990 Code)

   B.   Powers And Duties: The Board of Adjustment shall hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision or determination made by any administrative official charged with the enforcement of any ordinance or regulations adopted pursuant to this Section or Section 7-3-1 of this Chapter. It shall also hear and decide all matters referred to it or upon which it is required to pass under any zoning ordinance or regulation. The concurring vote of four (4) members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of any such administrative official, or to decide in favor of the applicant any matter upon which it is required to pass under any such ordinance or regulation or to effect any variation in such ordinance.

   C.   Appeals:

      1.   An appeal to the Board shall be taken within such time as shall be prescribed by the Board by general rule, by filing with the officer from whom the appeal is taken to the Board a notice of appeal, specifying the grounds thereof. The officer from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the Board all papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.

      2.   An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the Board, after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with him, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property, in which case, proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the Board on notice to the officer from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.

      3.   The Board of Adjustment shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal and give due notice thereof to the parties, and decide the same within a reasonable time. Upon hearing, any party may appear in person or by agent or by attorney.

      4.   The Board may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from and shall make such order, requirement, decision or determination as in its opinion ought to be made in the premises, and to that end shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken. Where there are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardship in the way of carrying out the strict letter of such an ordinance or regulation, the Board shall have the power in passing upon appeals to vary or modify the application of the regulations or provisions of such ordinance relating to the use, construction or alteration of buildings or structures, or the use of land, so that the spirit of the ordinance shall be observed, public safety and welfare secured and substantial justice done. (Ord. 81, 5-2-1949)