(A) The Board of Appeals shall hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the administrative official charged with the enforcement of the Zoning Code. The Board may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify or amend the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from to the extent and in the manner that the Board may decide to be fitting and proper in the premises. The applicant for such an appeal or an applicant for variance to the zoning ordinance shall submit, with his or her application, the fee of $100.
(B) The Board shall also hear and decide all matters referred to it or upon which it is required to pass under the Zoning Code.
(C) Where there are practical difficulties or particular hardships in the way of carrying out the strict letter of the Zoning Code, the Board may authorize a variation in the application of the regulations of the Zoning Code in harmony with their general purpose and intent, in the following instances:
(1) To permit a front yard, a side yard, and/or a rear yard less than that required by the Zoning Code, but the variation shall not exceed 25% of the depth of the front yard, or the width of a side yard, as required by the Zoning Code;
(2) The Board is hereby authorized to vary the rear lot requirements to reduce rear lot measurements to as low as 10 feet; except on corner lots where buildings are erected to front on the long dimension of a lot, and except on triangular, irregular and odd shaped lots, the Board is hereby authorized to vary the rear lot measurements to as low as 5 feet;
(3) To permit a building or structure to exceed the height limit by a reasonable amount beyond the limits established by the Zoning Code;
(4) To permit the use of a lot less in area by not more than 10% of the lot width as required by the Zoning Code;
(5) To permit the use of a lot less in width by not more than 15% of the lot width as required by the Zoning Code;
(6) To permit the use of a lot adjacent to a commercial or multiple dwelling use as parking space for the use, provided that the lot shall have the area required by the Zoning Code for parking space for the use.
(D) In considering all proposed variations to the Zoning Code, the Board shall, before making any variation from the regulation in a specific case, first determine and make a finding of fact that the proposed variation will not impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property, increase the congestion in public streets, increase the danger of fire or endanger the public safety, and unreasonably diminish or impair established property values within the surrounding area.
(E) The concurring vote of 3 members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of the administrative official charged with the enforcement of the Zoning Code or to decide in favor of the applicant any matter upon which the Board is authorized by the Zoning Code to render a decision.
(1992 Code, § 155.187) (Ord. passed 5- -1969; Am. Ord. 042682, passed 4-26-1982; Am. Ord. 051401G, passed 5-14-2001; Am. Ord. 2007-MC01, passed 1-22-2007)