(A) A Board of Zoning Appeals is hereby established. The Mayor shall appoint 5 of the 7 members, 2 of whom shall be members of the City Plan Commission. The County Commissioners shall appoint the 2 remaining members of the Board of Zoning Appeals, who shall be residents of the 2-mile jurisdictional area outside the city corporate boundaries/limits. No more than 3 of the 5 individuals to be appointed by the Mayor shall be from the same political party, and the appointments made by the County Commissioners shall be of different political parties.
(B) At the first meeting of each year, the Board shall elect a Chairperson and a Vice-Chairperson from among its members, and it may appoint and fix the compensation of a secretary and employees as are necessary for the discharge of its duties.
(C) The Board shall adopt rules and regulations as it may deem necessary to effectuate the provisions of this chapter.
(D) All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public. The Board shall keep minutes of its proceeding, keep records of its examinations and other official actions, prepare findings, and record the vote of each member voting upon each question. All minutes and records shall be filed in the office of the Board and shall be a public record.
(E) Any decision of the Building Commissioner in enforcement of this chapter may be appealed to the Board by any person claiming to be adversely affected by the decision.
(F) The Board shall have the following power, and it shall be its duty to:
(1) Hear and determine appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Building Commissioner in the enforcement of this chapter;
(2) Hear and decide on permits for conditional uses, development plans or other uses upon which the Board is required to act under this chapter;
(3) Authorize upon appeal in specific cases the variances from the terms of this chapter as will not be contrary to the public interests, where owing to special conditions, fully demonstrated on the basis of the facts presented, a literal enforcement of the provisions of this chapter will result in unnecessary hardship and so that the spirit of this chapter shall be observed and substantial justice done;
(4) Revoke variances previously granted if conditions imposed on the variance at the time the variance is approved have not been satisfied. No revocation shall be made or allowed until any interested parties are afforded the opportunity to be heard prior to the Board’s revocation of a variance; and
(5) Set time limits to initiate commencement of activities to carry out approved conditional uses, variances and development plans.
(G) In exercising its powers the Board may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from as in its opinion ought to be done in the premises, and to that end, shall have all the powers of Building Commissioner from whom the appeal is taken.
(H) Every decision of the Board shall be subject to review by certiorari.
(I) No variance in the application of the provisions of this chapter shall be made by the Board relating to buildings, land or premises now existing or to be constructed, unless after a public hearing, the Board shall find:
(1) That there are exceptional or extraordinary circumstance or conditions applicable to the property or to the intended use that do not apply generally to the other property or class of use in the same vicinity and district;
(2) That variance is necessary for the preservation and enjoyment of a substantial property right possessed by other property in the same vicinity and district, but which is denied to the property in question;
(3) That the granting of the variance will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the property or improvements in the vicinity and district in which the property is located; and/or
(4) That the granting of the variance will not alter the land use characteristics of the vicinity and district, diminish the marketable value of adjacent land and improvements or increase the congestion in the public streets.
(Prior Code, § 156.34) (Am. Ord. 8-86, passed 7-14-1986; Am. Ord. 23-27, passed 1-4-1988; Am. Ord. 4-2003, passed 4-28-2003; Am. Ord. 12-2015, passed 6-22-2015)