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The board shall consist of five persons, who are not members of any governing body, to be appointed by the mayor, three of whom shall be persons with expert knowledge of construction, architecture, fine arts, engineering, landscape architecture, law, or practical experience in related areas. The terms of all members shall be for three years each and so arranged that the term of at least one member will expire each year. Members of the board shall be removable for cause by the mayor upon written charges and after a public hearing. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term of any member whose term becomes vacant. The mayor shall also appoint a first alternate and a second alternate for a term of three years each. If a member is unable to attend a meeting, the first alternate or second alternate, in turn, shall serve in that person’s place.
(1992 Code, App. B, § 15.63.020) (Ord. 42-83, passed 6-27-1983; Ord. 43-86, passed 5-19-1986; Ord. 26-99, passed 3-1-1999; Ord. 9-13, passed 3-19-2013)
The board shall organize and adopt rules to govern its proceedings, provided, however, that the rules are not inconsistent with the City Code of Ordinances, the city comprehensive development plan, state or federal law.
(1992 Code, App. B, § 15.63.030) (Ord. 42-83, passed 6-27-1983; Ord. 43-86, passed 5-19-1986; Ord. 9-13, passed 3-19-2013)
All meetings of the board shall be open to the public and held as the board may determine. Special meetings may be held at the call of the chairperson. The chairperson or, in his or her absence, the acting chairperson may administer oaths, and the board may compel the attendance of witnesses. All business of the board shall be transacted at the meetings. The board shall keep minutes of its proceedings showing the vote of each member upon each question or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating the fact, and shall keep records of examinations and other official actions, all of which shall be immediately filed in the office of the board and shall be a public record.
(1992 Code, App. B, § 15.63.040) (Ord. 42-83, passed 6-27-1983; Ord. 43-86, passed 5-19-1986; Ord. 9-13, passed 3-19-2013)
Appeals to the board may be taken by any person aggrieved or by any officer, department, board, or bureau of the municipality affected by any decision of the administrative officer. The appeal shall be taken within a reasonable time, as provided by the rules of the board, by filing with the officer from whom the appeal is taken and with the board of adjustment a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof. The officer from whom the appeal was taken shall transmit to the board all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken. The board shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal.
(1992 Code, App. B, § 15.63.050) (Ord. 42-83, passed 6-27-1983; Ord. 43-86, passed 5-19-1986; Ord. 9-13, passed 3-19-2013)
(a) Signs. Signs shall be posted on the affected property for a continuous period of ten days prior to any public hearing held by the board of adjustment. The signs shall be furnished by the department of planning and building services and posted by the applicant in the numbers and locations prescribed by the director, but in no case less than two signs. The signs shall be located in a conspicuous place. Before any action can be taken by the board, the applicant shall first file with planning and building services a certificate verifying that the signs have been posted at the proper location before the time specified in this section.
(b) Written notice. Letters shall be sent by the city to abutting property owners, marked as contiguous properties including those abutting properties separated by public right-of-way. The letters shall be postmarked ten days prior to the hearing and state the date, time, and location of the public hearing.
(c) Publication. The public hearing date, time, and location shall be published at least ten days in advance of the hearing in a legal newspaper of the community.
(d) Failure to provide notice. Failure to provide actual notice to each person so entitled shall not render any proceeding hereunder invalid, provided that the applicant or the city substantially complies with the requisite published legal newspaper notice, public notice and hearing requirements of this chapter.
(1992 Code, App. B, § 15.63.060) (Ord. 42-83, passed 6-27-1983; Ord. 43-86, passed 5-19-1986; Ord. 7-12, passed 2-6-2012; Ord. 9-13, passed 3-19-2013
; Ord. 16-21, passed 2-2-2021
)
An appeal to the board stays all proceedings in the action appealed from, unless the building service administrator shall file a certificate that by reason of the facts stated in the certificate the stay would, in his or her opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In that case, proceedings shall not be stayed other than by a restraining order which may be granted by the board or by a court of record, on application, on notice to the chief building official and on due cause shown. The certificate of the building service administrator shall be effective ten days only and shall be nonrenewable.
(1992 Code, App. B, § 15.63.070) (Ord. 42-83, passed 6-27-1983; Ord. 43-86, passed 5-19-1986; Ord. 9-13, passed 3-19-2013)
The jurisdiction of the board of adjustment shall be limited to the following:
(a) Powers relative to errors. To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is an error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative official in the enforcement of this chapter.
(b) Powers relative to variances. To hear and decide upon petitions for variances to vary the strict application of the height, area, required yard, or other bulk requirements; reduction in minimum landscaping or minimum buffer yard landscape elements of § 160.485; minimum parking requirements in § 160.550; or off-premise sign spacing requirements of § 160.591(f) as will not be contrary to the public interest where:
(1) Due to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance will result in unnecessary hardship and so that the spirit of the ordinance shall be observed and substantial justice done.
(2) Exceptional and extraordinary circumstances apply to the property that do not apply generally to other properties in the same zone or vicinity and that result from lot size or shape, topography or other circumstances which are not of the applicant's making.
(3) The variance is necessary for the preservation of a property right of the applicant that is substantially the same as that possessed by owners of other property in the same zone.
(4) The variance requested is the minimum variance that would alleviate the hardship.
(5) Grant or revoke waivers in the required hard surfacing of parking, loading and maneuvering areas or a portion thereof. Waivers shall be for a finite period and may be linked to a specific event, such as pending street or utility improvements. In no case shall the board grant permanent waivers of hard surfacing.
(c) Powers relative to exceptions. Upon petition, the board is hereby empowered to make the following zoning exceptions:
(1) To permit the reconstruction of a nonconforming building which has been destroyed or partially destroyed by fire or act of God, where the board shall find some compelling public necessity requiring the continuance of the nonconformance use.
(2) Allow, by permit, the temporary location, and placement of a single manufactured home, as defined by the ordinance, to be used as a primary temporary residence on a lot in any residential zoning district wherein the use is not otherwise specifically authorized for a period not to exceed one year, if the board first finds the following:
A. That the principal residence on the lot has been destroyed in whole or in part by unexpected catastrophe such as fire, flood, explosion or storm.
B. The board may determine the placement of the manufactured home on the lot.
(d) Limits to jurisdiction.
(1) The board of adjustment shall have no jurisdiction to hear requests or grant variances of the height limitations for broadcast towers, telecommunications towers, antenna support structures, and wireless communications facilities regulated by this code.
(2) The board of adjustment shall have no jurisdiction to hear requests or grant variances within the airport district regulated by this code.
(1992 Code, App. B, § 15.63.080) (Ord. 42-83, passed 6-27-1983; Ord. 43-86, passed 5-19-1986; Ord. 5-88, passed 1-18-1988; Ord. 72-88, passed 8-1-1988; Ord. 94-95, passed 7-3-1995; Ord. 17-98, passed 2-2-1998; Ord. 76-07, passed 6-4-2007; Ord. 9-13, passed 3-19-2013; Ord. 79-14, passed 10-14-2014; Ord. 37-19, passed 4-2-2019)
In exercising its jurisdiction, the board may, in conformity with law, reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from and may make the order, requirement, decision or determination as ought to be made, and to that end shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken. In considering all appeals and petitions within its jurisdiction under this chapter, the board shall, before making any finding in a specific case, first determine that the proposed change will not constitute a change in the zoning district map and will not impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property or increase the congestion in public streets or increase the public danger of fire and safety or materially diminish or impair established property values within the surrounding area or in any other respect impair the public health, safety, comfort, morals and welfare of the city. In making a determination, the board may request information and recommendations from any department of the city. Every decision by the board shall be accompanied by a written finding of fact based on testimony and other evidence, specifying the reason for granting or denying the variation. The concurring vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the board of adjustment shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of any administrative official, or to decide in favor of the applicant on any matter upon which the board of adjustment is required to pass under any ordinance, or to effect any variation in an ordinance.
(1992 Code, App. B, § 15.63.090) (Ord. 42-83, passed 6-27-1983; Ord. 43-86, passed 5-19-1986; Ord. 28-10, passed 4-5-2010; Ord. 9-13, passed 3-19-2013)
Any order of the board of adjustment granting a variance or special exception shall be invalid unless substantially completed within two years from the date of the order, and the order shall expire without notice. For good cause, the board may extend this.
(1992 Code, App. B, § 15.63.100) (Ord. 42-83, passed 6-27-1983; Ord. 43-86, passed 5-19-1986; Ord. 9-13, passed 3-19-2013)
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