The Board of Adjustment shall prescribe the form in which application
shall be made for variances, conditional use permits or special use
permits. It may prepare and provide blanks for such purpose and may
prescribe the type of information to be submitted in the application
by the applicant. No application shall be accepted unless it complies
with such requirements.
Each application for a variance shall be accompanied by a written statement of facts by the petitioner showing why, in the opinion of the petitioner, the granting of said variance is necessary in order that the provisions of § 450-64, Required showing for variance, of this chapter may be met. In cases where the Board of Adjustment considers the conditions set forth in this statement as not falling within the scope of the variance procedure, the applicant shall be so informed, whereupon, if the application is filed, it shall be signed by the petitioner to the effect that he has been so informed. Filing of an application shall not constitute any indication of approval.
An application for a variance, conditional use or special use
permit, as provided herein, shall be also accompanied by:
A.
Two sets of description of the property involved and plans for the
proposed use. Said plans shall be drawn to scale and shall show the
general location of structures and other features proposed for development
on the site.
B.
Evidence, satisfactory to the Board of Adjustment, of the ability
and intention of the applicant to proceed with actual construction
work in accordance with said plans within six months after issuance
of the variance or special use permit.
[Amended 8-18-2004 by Ord. No. 04-13; 12-8-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18; 10-11-2023 by Ord. No. 23-08]
A fee of $175 for each variance or special use application and
a fee of $800 for each conditional use application shall be paid to
the City of Las Vegas through the Community Development Department
upon the filing of such application as provided in this chapter. Paying
of the application fee shall not be construed in any way to be approval
of the proposed permit, and no refund of any fee shall be granted
under any circumstances. All entities which submitted a medical cannabis
application or recreational license application with the New Mexico
Cannabis Control Division ("CCD") for commercial cannabis activity
or cannabis consumption area, including without limitation all entities
currently and completely licensed for medical use pursuant to the
Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act[1], are required to submit a conditional use application
to the City, pay the nonrefundable application fee and provide a copy
of the entity's approved license from the CCD for the City's consideration
of conditional use for commercial cannabis activity or a cannabis
consumption area, with the understanding that submittal of such application
to the City shall not in any way guarantee approval. Currently licensed
hemp producers in good standing with the New Mexico Environmental
Department and the Secretary of State's Office, and currently licensed
medical cannabis producers in good standing with the New Mexico Department
of Health and the CCD seeking dual licensure for recreational cannabis
production, must also submit a conditional use application to the
City, and comply with all City codes.
[1]
Editor's Note: See NMSA 1978, § 26-2B-1 et seq.
[Amended 12-8-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18; 10-11-2023 by Ord. No. 23-08]
All completed applications for variances, conditional use or
special use permits, as provided in this chapter, shall be set by
the City Manager or City Manager's designee for public hearing. The
date of the first hearing shall not be less than 15 days or more than
60 days from the date of the filing of a completed application.
Notice of time and place of public hearings shall be given in
the following manner:
A.
By publication of a notice of such hearing at least once in a newspaper
having a general circulation in the City, such notice to be published
not less than 15 days prior to such hearing; and
B.
By posting of signs on the subject property within 20 feet of adjacent
public right-of-way and in a frequency of not less than one sign every
300 feet. Signs are not required along property lines of subject property
that are not adjacent to a public right-of-way. Said signs shall be
posted not less than 15 days prior to the first public hearing before
the Board of Adjustment and shall contain the following information:
(1)
The heading of said signs shall read: "NOTICE OF PROPOSED VARIANCE"
or "NOTICE OF PROPOSED SPECIAL USE PERMIT" or "NOTICE OF PROPOSED
CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT," whichever the case may be, and said heading
shall be in type at least one inch in height. Said notice shall also
contain information setting forth the location of the property under
consideration, the nature of the proposed use to which the property
will be put, and the time and place at which the public hearing or
hearings on the matter will be held by the Board of Adjustment
C.
By first class mail to the owners, as shown by the records of the
County Assessor, of lots or land within the area proposed to be changed
by the zoning regulation within 100 feet, excluding public right-of-way,
or the area proposed to be changed by the zoning regulation.
The Board of Adjustment shall cause to be made by its own members,
or members of its staff, such investigation of fact bearing upon an
application set for hearing, including an analysis of precedent cases
as will serve to provide the necessary information to assure action
on each case consistent with the purpose of this chapter and with
previous amendments and variances.
If, for any reason, testimony on any matter set forth for public
hearing cannot be completed on the day set for such hearing, the Board
member presiding at such public hearing may, before the adjournment
or recess thereof, publicly announce the time and place to, and at
which, said hearing will be continued, and no further notice shall
be required.
[Amended 3-16-1989 by Ord. No. 77-41; 12-8-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18; 10-11-2023 by Ord. No. 23-08]
A.
Not more than 60 days following completion of its investigation and
hearings on the application for a variance, conditional use or special
use, the Board of Adjustment shall by majority vote: (1) grant or
deny the variance or special use permit subject to specified conditions;
and (2) adopt written findings which provide all facts relied upon
by the Board in rendering its decision, set forth whether the facts
meet or fail the requirements of this chapter, and state the reasons
for any conditions imposed by the Board; all of which will be provided
in the minutes of the Board's meeting. All special or conditional
use applications shall have a site plan attached to the application
before the City will review or process the application. Approval of
the site plan shall be obtained prior to any development of the property.
The site plan at a minimum shall include the following: (i) scale
and north arrow; (ii) lot boundaries and easements; (iii) existing
and proposed utilities; (iv) existing and proposed rights-of-way;
(v) proposed structures with uses, dimensions and setbacks; (vi) proposed
ingress, egress, parking and circulation; (vii) landscaping and landscape
buffers; (viii) elevations; (ix) adjacent property characteristics;
and (x) preliminary drainage plan.
B.
Failure of the Board to act on any variance, special use or conditional use application within 60 days from the date of the filing of a completed application shall qualify the applicant to request a hearing before the City's governing body. No rights, benefits, permits, approvals or other such items contained in this Chapter 450 shall be transferred, conveyed or assigned to any other entity or location.
A summary of all pertinent testimony offered at public hearings
in connection with an application filed pursuant to provisions of
this chapter and the names and addresses of persons testifying at
all public hearings before the Board of Adjustment shall be recorded
and made a part of the permanent files of the case.
[Amended 3-16-1989 by Ord. No. 77-41]
Not later than 10 days following the rendering of a decision
that a variance, conditional use permit of special use permit be granted
or denied, a notice of the decision shall be mailed to the applicant
at the address shown on the application filed with the Board of Adjustment.
[Amended 3-16-1989 by Ord. No. 77-41]
The order of the Board of Adjustment in granting or denying
a variance or special use permit shall become final and effective
10 days after the rendering of its decision granting or denying the
variance or special use permit, unless within such ten-day period
an appeal in writing is filed with the City Council by either an applicant
or an opponent. The filing of such an appeal within such time limit
shall stay the effective date of the order of the Board until such
time as the Council has acted on the appeal as hereinafter set forth
in this article.
Upon filing of a written appeal to the City Council as provided
herein, the City Manager shall forthwith cause to be transmitted to
the City Council certified copies of all material in the Board of
Adjustment files which are pertinent to the matter in question.
Within 30 days following the receipt of the written appeal the Council shall conduct a duly advertised public hearing, public notice of which shall be given in the same manner as provided in § 450-85 of this article. The hearing before the Council shall be a hearing de novo, and all interested persons may appear and present evidence.
[Amended 7-19-2012 by Ord. No. 12-11]
The findings and decision of the City Council shall be signed
by the Mayor not more than 20 days following the hearing, and said
findings and decision shall state, among other things, the facts and
reasons which, in the opinion of the Council, make the granting or
denial of the variance, conditional use, or special use permit necessary
to carry out the general purpose of this chapter.
The decision of the City Council shall be final and conclusive
on such appeal; provided, however, that in cases where the Board of
Adjustment's action has been a denial of a variance, conditional use
or special use permit, the City Council shall not grant a variance,
conditional use or special use permit nor eliminate or modify any
condition imposed by the Board except upon order of the Council passed
by not less than two-thirds vote of all members thereof.
[Amended 7-19-2012 by Ord. No. 12-11]
Not later than 10 days following the ordering that a variance,
conditional use or special use permit be granted or denied, a copy
of said findings and decision shall be mailed to the applicant or
opponent, or to both if they be different parties, and one copy shall
be transmitted to the Board of Adjustment for filing in its permanent
record on the case.
No reapplication for a variance, conditional use or special
use permit, which has been denied, shall be filed earlier than six
months after the date of such denial unless specific authority to
do so has been granted by the Board of Adjustment or by the City Council.
Any reapplication for a variance or special use permit shall be considered
as a new application and shall be treated as such, including payment
of a new filing fee.
