A. 
The Board of Adjustment shall consist of three to five members who shall be residents of the Town and who shall have knowledge of the problems of urban and rural development and who, at the time and throughout the term of office, shall not be candidates nor members of the Town Council nor employees of the Town.
B. 
The Mayor of the Town of Millville shall appoint such members of the Board of Adjustment, and all such appointments shall be confirmed by a majority vote of the Town Council. All appointments shall be for a period of three years, provided that the terms of the original members shall be established in a manner that the term of at least one member shall expire each year and the successor shall be appointed for a term of three years. The Board of Adjustment so selected shall elect from their own number a Chairman and a Secretary.
C. 
Any member of the Board of Adjustment may be removed from office by the Town Council for cause after a hearing by a majority vote of all of the elected members of the Town Council. A vacancy occurring otherwise than by the expiration of a term shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term in the same manner as an original appointment.
A. 
Meetings of the Board of Adjustment shall be held at the call of the Chairman and at such other times as the Board may determine. The Chairman, or in his absence, the acting Chairman, may administer oaths and compel attendance of witnesses. All meetings shall be open to the public. Minutes shall be kept of all meetings by the Secretary. These shall show the vote of each member upon each question, or if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact. The Board shall also keep a record of its examinations and other official actions, all of which shall be immediately filed in the office of the Board and shall be a public record.
B. 
The Board shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions and purposes of this chapter. The Board shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing, give the public notice thereof as well as due notice to the parties in interest, and decide the same within a reasonable time. At the hearing, any party may appear in person or by an agent or attorney.
A. 
Any person or persons, jointly or severally aggrieved by any decision of the Board of Adjustment, or any taxpayer, or any officer, department, board, or bureau of the Town, may present to the Superior Court a petition, duly verified, setting forth that such decision is illegal, in whole or in part, specifying the grounds of the illegality. Such petition shall be presented to the Court within 30 days after the filing of the decision in the office of the Board.
B. 
Upon presentation of the petition, the Court may allow a writ of certiorari directed to the Board to review such decision of the Board and shall prescribe therein the time within which a return thereto must be made and served upon the attorney, which shall not be less than 10 days and which may be extended by the Court. The allowance of the writ shall not stay proceedings upon the decision appealed from, but the Court may, on application, on notice to the Board and on due cause shown, grant a restraining order.
C. 
The Court may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the decision brought up for review.
D. 
The duties of the Town Council in connection with this chapter shall not include hearing and deciding questions of interpretation and enforcement that may arise. Under this chapter, the Town Council shall have only the duties of considering and adopting or rejecting proposed amendments to or the repeal of this chapter, as provided by law, and of establishing fees and charges.
[1]
Editor’s Note: Former § 155-58, Special exceptions, was repealed 12-8-2015 by Ord. No. 16-03.
A. 
The Board of Adjustment shall authorize upon appeal in specific cases such variance from the terms of this chapter as will not be contrary to the public interest where, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provisions of this chapter would result in unnecessary hardship or an exceptional practical difficulty. A variance from the terms of this chapter shall not be granted by the Board of Adjustment unless and until:
(1) 
A written application for a variance is submitted demonstrating:
(a) 
That there are unique physical circumstances or conditions, including irregularity, narrowness, or shallowness of lot size or shape, or exceptional topographical or other physical conditions peculiar to the particular property, and that the unnecessary hardship or exceptional practical difficulty is due to such conditions, and not to circumstances or conditions generally created by the provisions of this chapter in the neighborhood or district in which the property is located;
(b) 
That because of such physical circumstances or conditions, there is no possibility that the property can be developed in strict conformity with the provisions of this chapter and that the authorization of a variance is therefore necessary to enable the reasonable use of the property;
(c) 
That special conditions and circumstances do not result from the actions of the applicant; and
(d) 
That granting the variance requested will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that is denied by this chapter to other lands, structures, or buildings in the same district;
(2) 
Notice of a public hearing is given as stated in § 155-56B, Proceedings;
(3) 
The public hearing is held. Any party may appear in person or by an agent or by an attorney. Comments from other interested parties may be received in written or verbal form, and stated in the minutes of the public hearing;
B. 
No nonconforming use of neighboring lands, structures, or buildings in the same district, or buildings in other districts, shall be considered grounds for the issuance of a variance.
C. 
In granting any variance, the Board of Adjustment may prescribe appropriate conditions and safeguards in conformity with this chapter. Violation of such conditions and safeguards, when made a part of the terms under which the variance is granted, shall be deemed a violation of this chapter and punishable.
D. 
Under no circumstances shall the Board of Adjustment grant a variance to allow a use not permissible under the terms of this chapter in the district involved or any use expressly or by implication prohibited by the terms of this chapter in said district.
E. 
No later than 14 calendar days after the public hearing was held, the Board of Adjustment shall publish in a local newspaper and post at Town Hall a notice stating the actions taken at its public hearing(s) for variances.
A. 
In exercising the above-mentioned powers, the Board of Adjustment may, so long as such action is in conformity with the terms of this chapter, reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination as ought to be made, and to that end shall have the powers of the Code Enforcement Officer from whom the appeal is taken.
B. 
The concurring vote of the three to five members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement or decision of the Code Enforcement Officer, or to decide in favor of the applicant on any matter upon which it is required to pass under this chapter, or to effect any variation in the application of this chapter.
After the Board of Adjustment has approved a special exception or granted a variance, the special exception or variance so approved or granted shall lapse after the expiration of one year if no substantial construction or change of use has taken place in accordance with the plans for which such special exception or variance was granted, or if the Board does not specify some longer period than one year for good cause shown, and the provisions of these regulations shall thereafter govern.
The procedure for amendment of a special exception or variance already approved, or a request for a change of conditions attached to an approval, shall be the same as a new application except that, where the administrative official determines the change to be minor relative to the original approval, he or she may transmit the same to the Board with the original record without requiring that a new application be filed.
[Amended 12-14-2010 by Ord. No. 11-03]
Said applicant shall provide the prescribed application form provided by the Town, applicable fees and any supportive application documentation. The Town Council shall establish a schedule of fees and charges for the Board of Adjustment application.[1] The administrative official may amend the application requirements, such as number of application copies, application due dates, etc., as determined by the Board of Adjustment to include information necessary for decisions.
[1]
Editor's Note: The current fee schedule is on file in the Town Hall.