(A) Establishment.
(1) The Board of Commissioners finds that it is not necessary and not in the public interest to maintain a separate Planning Board and Board of Adjustment. The Board of Adjustment established with the Surry County Development Ordinance previously enacted is hereby dissolved in order to allow the Board of Commissioners to designate the Planning Board to perform all of the duties of the Board of Adjustment.
(2) There shall be and hereby is created a Board of Adjustment (hereafter called the “Board”). The Planning Board is hereby designated to perform all of the duties of the Board of Adjustment and shall consist of the five regular members and one alternate member of the Planning Board.
(B) Powers and duties. The Surry County Board of Adjustment shall have certain powers and duties to be carried out in accordance with this chapter which include the following:
(1) To hear and decide appeals from any specific order, requirement, decision, or determination made under this chapter by the Zoning Administrator in accordance with the provisions of §§ 154.009;
(2) To hear and decide petitions for variances from the regulations of this chapter in accordance with the provisions of §§ 154.010;
(3) To hear, decide, and authorize the issuance of any special use permits assigned to the Board elsewhere in this chapter;
(4) To hear requests for and to grant variances to the floodplain regulations;
(5) To hear requests for variances to any watershed protection order, requirement, decision, or determination made by the Zoning Administrator;
(6) To adopt such rules of procedure necessary for the administration of its responsibilities consistent with this chapter; and
(7) To grant permits for any proposed alteration, expansion, change, rebuilding or resumption of a non-conformity.
(C) Oath of office. Pursuant to G.S. § 153A-26, all members appointed to the Board of Adjustment shall, before entering their duties, qualify by taking an oath of office as required by G.S. § 153A-26.
(D) Minutes. Pursuant to G.S. § 160D-308, the Board of Adjustment shall keep minutes of its proceedings.
(E) Voting. The concurring vote of four-fifths majority shall be required to grant a variance to an applicant. A majority of the members shall be required to decide any other quasi-judicial matter or to determine an appeal made in certiorari. For the purposes of this division, vacant positions on the Board and members who are disqualified from voting on a quasi-judicial matter under G.S. § 160D-109(d) shall not be considered members of the Board for calculation of the requisite majority if there are no qualified alternates available to take the place of such members. A minimum of five members is required to constitute a quorum for the purposes of voting on decisions.
(F) Conduct of meetings. All meetings of the Board of Adjustment shall be open to the public. The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings showing the vote of each member upon each issue and the absence or failure of any member to vote. Minutes shall clearly reflect presenting witnesses, evidence presented, findings of fact, and decisions made. Minutes shall be maintained by the County Clerk and shall be available for public review.
(G) Administering oaths and compelling attendance of witnesses. The Chairperson or, in his or her absence, the acting Chairperson may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses.
(H) Notice. The Board shall not take any action under their powers and duties until a public hearing is held according to the provisions of §§ 154.005 and G.S. Ch. 160D. Notice of evidentiary hearings conducted pursuant to G.S. § 160D-406 shall be mailed to the person or entity whose appeal, application, or request is the subject of the hearing; to the owner of the property that is the subject of the hearing if the owner did not initiate the hearing; to the owners of all parcels of land abutting the parcel of land that is the subject of the hearing; and to any other persons entitled to receive notice as provided by the local development regulation. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the county may rely on the county tax listing to determine owners of property entitled to mailed notice. The notice must be deposited in the mail at least ten days, but not more than 25 days, prior to the date of the hearing. Within that same time period, the county shall also prominently post a notice of the hearing on the site that is the subject of the hearing or on an adjacent street or highway right-of-way.
(I) Conflict of interest. A Board of Adjustment member, when exercising any quasi-judicial function, shall not participate in or vote on any quasi-judicial matter in a manner that would violate affected persons’ constitutional rights to an impartial decision-maker. Impermissible violations of due process include, but are not limited to, a member having a fixed opinion prior to hearing the matter that is not susceptible to change, undisclosed ex parte communications, a close familial, business, or other associational relationship with an affected person, or a financial interest in the outcome of the matter. CLOSE FAMILIAL RELATIONSHIP means a spouse, parent, child, brother, sister, grandparent, or grandchild, as well as the step, half and in-law relationships of the above (G.S. § 160D-109).
(Ord. passed 4-17-2023)