There is hereby established a Board of Zoning
Appeals for the Village of Saukville for the purpose of hearing appeals
and applications, and for granting variances and exceptions to the
provisions of this Zoning Chapter.
The Board of Zoning Appeals shall consist of
five members appointed by the Village President and confirmed by the
Village Board.
A.
Terms shall be for staggered three-year periods.
B.
The Chairman shall be designated by the Village President.
C.
Alternate members. The Village President shall appoint
a first alternate member and a second alternate member to act only
when a regular member is absent or refuses to vote because of interest.
The second alternate member may act only when the first alternate
is unable to act or is already sitting.
D.
The Secretary and office of the Board of Zoning Appeals
shall be the Village Administrator and the Village Administrator's
office.
E.
The Building Inspector shall attend all meetings for
the purpose of providing technical assistance when requested by the
Board.
F.
Official oaths shall be taken by all members in accordance
with § 19.01, Wis. Stats. within five days of receiving
notice of their appointment.
G.
Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term in
the same manner as appointments for a full term.
The Board of Zoning Appeals shall organize and
adopt rules of procedure for its own government in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter.
A.
Meetings shall be held at the call of the Chairman
and shall be open to the public.
B.
Minutes of the proceedings and a record of all actions
shall be kept by the Secretary, or other designated person, showing
the vote of each member upon each question, the reasons for the Board's
determination, and its finding of facts. These records shall be immediately
filed in the office of the Board and shall be a public record.
C.
The concurring vote of four members of the Board shall
be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination
of any administrative official; grant a variance, grant a special
exception, or make an interpretation.
The Board of Zoning Appeals shall have the following
powers:
A.
Errors: to hear and decide appeals when it is alleged
there is error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination
made by any administrative official.
B.
Variances: to hear and grant appeals for variances
as will not be contrary to the public interest, when, owing to special
conditions, a literal enforcement will result in practical difficulty
or unnecessary hardship, so that the spirit and purposes of this chapter
shall be observed and the public safety, welfare, and justice secured.
Use variances shall not be granted.
C.
Substitutions: to hear and grant applications for
substitution of more restrictive nonconforming uses for existing nonconforming
uses, provided no structural alterations are to be made and the Village
Plan Commission has made a review and recommendation. Whenever the
Board permits such a substitution, the use may not thereafter be changed
without application.
E.
Permits: The Board may reserve, affirm wholly, or
partly modify the requirements appealed from, and may issue or direct
the issue of a permit.
F.
Assistance: The Board may request assistance from
other Village officers, departments, commissions, and boards.
G.
Oaths: The Chairman may administer oaths and compel
the attendance of witnesses.
Appeals of the decision of the Building Inspector
or any administrative official concerning the literal enforcement
of this chapter may be made by any person aggrieved or by any officer,
department or board of the Village. Such appeals shall be filed with
the Secretary within 30 days after the date of written notice of the
decision or order of the Building Inspector or any administrative
official. Applications may be made by the owner or lessee of the structure,
land, or water to be affected at any time and shall be filed with
the Secretary. Such appeals and applications shall include the following:
A.
Name and address of the appellant or applicant and
all abutting and opposite property owners of record.
B.
Plat of survey prepared by a registered land surveyor showing all of the information required under § 205-14 for a building permit.
C.
Additional information required by the Village Plan
Commission, Village Engineer, Board of Zoning Appeals, or Building
Inspector.
The Board of Zoning Appeals shall fix a reasonable time and place for the hearing, shall give public notice thereof as specified in Article XVI of this chapter, and shall give due notice to the parties in interest, the Building Inspector, and the Village Plan Commission. At the hearing the appellant may appear in person, by agent or by attorney.
The Board of Zoning Appeals shall transmit a
copy of each application for a variance to conservancy regulations
in a shoreland or to floodland regulations, and a copy of all shoreland
and floodland appeals to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) for review and comment at least 10 days prior to any public
hearings. Final action on the application shall not be taken for 30
days or until the DNR has made its recommendation, whichever comes
first. A copy of all decisions relating to variances to conservancy
regulation in a shoreland or to floodland regulations, and a copy
of all decisions to shoreland and floodland appeals, shall be transmitted
to the DNR within 10 days of the date of such decision.
No variance to the provisions of this chapter
shall be granted by the Board unless it finds beyond a reasonable
doubt that all the following facts and conditions exist and so indicates
such in the minutes of its proceedings.
A.
Preservation of intent. No variance shall be granted
that is not consistent with the purpose and intent of the regulations
for the district in which the development is located. No variance
shall have the effect of permitting a use in any district that is
not a stated permitted use, accessory use, or conditional use in that
particular district.
B.
Exceptional circumstances. There must be exceptional,
extraordinary, or unusual circumstances or conditions applying to
the lot or parcel, structure, use or intended use that do not apply
generally to other properties or uses in the same district, and the
granting of the variance should not be of so general or recurrent
nature as to suggest that the Zoning Chapter should be changed.
C.
Economic hardship and self-imposed hardship not grounds
for variance. No variance shall be granted solely on the basis of
economic gain or loss. Self-imposed hardships shall not be considered
as grounds for the granting of a variance.
D.
Preservation of property rights. The variance must
be necessary for the preservation and enjoyment of substantial property
rights possessed by other properties in the same district and same
vicinity.
E.
Absence of detriment. No variance shall be granted
that will create substantial detriment to adjacent property or that
will materially impair or be contrary to the purpose and spirit of
this chapter or the public interest.
F.
Additional requirements in floodland districts. No
variance shall be granted where:
(1)
Filling and development contrary to the purpose and
intent of the FWO Floodway Overlay District would result.
(2)
A change in the boundaries of the FWO Floodway Overlay
District or the FFO Floodplain Fringe Overlay District would result.
(3)
A lower degree of flood protection than 0.2 feet above
the one-hundred-year recurrence interval flood for the particular
would result.
(4)
Any action contrary to the provisions of Chapter NR
116 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code would result.
[Amended 5-7-2019 by Ord.
No. 793]
A.
The Board of Zoning Appeals may hear an application for a special exception from those requirements of this chapter described in Subsection B below, and may grant a special exception as provided in this article.
B.
Special exceptions may be granted only with respect to the following
requirements of this chapter:
(1)
The setback and yard requirements in §§ 205-30F, 205-31F, 205-32F, 205-33F, 205-34F, 205-35F, 205-36E, 205-37F, 205-38G, 205-39G, 205-40G, 205-41F, 205-42G, 205-43G, 205-44F and 205-45E. In no event, however, shall the setbacks or yard requirements be reduced to less than three feet in any residential zoning district or to less than five feet in any other zoning district.
C.
A special exception may be granted only if the Board of Zoning Appeals
finds that at least one of the following criteria is met:
(1)
Compliance with the requirement would be unreasonably burdensome
to the applicant; or
(2)
Compliance with the requirement would unreasonably and negatively
impact upon the applicant's proposed use of the property; or
(3)
Compliance with the requirement should be waived in order to
promote the safety, welfare and general prosperity of the Village.
D.
In making its determination under Subsection C, the Board of Zoning Appeals may consider factors such as characteristics of the real property, including, but not limited to, relative placement of improvements thereon with respect to property boundaries or otherwise applicable setbacks; existing and future use of the property; useful life of improvements at issue; aesthetics; degree of noncompliance with the requirement from which a special exception is sought; proximity to and character of surrounding properties; zoning of the area in which property is located and neighboring areas; and the purpose and intent of the Zoning Chapter subsection imposing the requirement.
E.
The Board of Zoning Appeals' decision shall be based on substantial
evidence. In this article, "substantial evidence" means facts and
information, other than merely personal preferences or speculation,
directly related to the requirements and conditions the applicant
must meet to obtain a special exception and that reasonable persons
would accept in support of a conclusion.
F.
If the applicant for a special exception meets or agrees to meet
all of the requirements and conditions specified in this chapter or
those imposed by the Board of Zoning Appeals, the Board of Zoning
Appeals shall grant the special exception.
G.
The Board of Zoning Appeals, in considering and granting an application
for a special exception, may condition the granting of a special exception
on the compliance by the applicant with other conditions, including,
but not limited to landscaping, lighting and site plan changes.
H.
Any condition imposed must be related to the purpose of this chapter,
must be based on substantial evidence, must be reasonable and, to
the extent practicable, measurable, and may include conditions such
as the special exception's duration, transfer and renewal. The applicant
must demonstrate that the application and all requirements and conditions
established by the Board of Zoning Appeals relating to the special
exception are or shall be satisfied, both of which must be supported
by substantial evidence. The Board of Zoning Appeals' decision to
approve or deny a special exception must be supported by substantial
evidence.
A.
Wetland disputes. Whenever the Board of Zoning Appeals
is asked to interpret a C-1 Conservancy District boundary where an
apparent discrepancy exists between the Village's Final Wetland Inventory
Map and actual field conditions, the Village shall contact the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to determine if the wetland
inventory map is in error. If the DNR staff concurs that the particular
area was incorrectly mapped as a wetland, the Board of Zoning Appeals
shall direct the Village Plan Commission to initiate appropriate action
to rezone the property within a reasonable amount of time.
B.
Floodland disputes. Whenever the Board of Zoning Appeals
is asked to interpret a floodland boundary where an apparent discrepancy
exists between the federal Flood Insurance Study and actual field
conditions, the following procedure shall be used. The floodland boundary
shall be determined by use of the flood profiles contained in an engineering
study, or where such information is not available, by experience flood
maps or any other evidence available to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
The person contesting the location of the district boundary shall
be given the opportunity to present his own technical evidence. Where
it is determined that the floodplain is incorrectly mapped, the Board
of Zoning Appeals shall advise the Village Plan Commission of its
findings and the Plan Commission shall proceed to petition the Village
Board for a map amendment.
The Board of Zoning Appeals shall decide all
appeals and applications within 30 days after the public hearing and
shall transmit a signed copy of the Board's decision to the appellant
or applicant, Building Inspector, and Village Plan Commission.
A.
Conditions may be placed upon any building permit
ordered or authorized by this Board.
B.
Variances, substitutions, special exceptions or use
permits granted by the Board shall expire within six months unless
substantial work has commenced pursuant to such grant.
C.
Applicants receiving variances in floodlands shall
be notified, in writing, by the Board of Zoning Appeals that increased
flood insurance premiums may result from the granting of the variance.
The Board shall keep a record of the notifications in its files.
Any person or persons aggrieved by any decision
of the Board of Zoning Appeals may present to the court of record
a petition duly verified setting forth that such decision is illegal
and 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 of Zoning Appeals.
