[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.1), 4-27-2004]
The establishment of a Board of Adjustment is hereby authorized. The word "Board", when used in this Article, shall be construed to mean the Board of Adjustment. Board members and alternate members shall be appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Board of Aldermen. Board members and alternate members shall serve without monetary compensation. Any or all Board members or alternate members may be removed for just cause by the Board of Aldermen upon substantiated written charges and after a public hearing conducted by the Board of Aldermen.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.2), 4-27-2004]
A. 
The Board shall consist of five (5) regular members and three (3) alternate members, all of whom shall be residents of the City of Clayton and shall hold no other office or position in the City government. The term of office of the regular and alternate members of the Board shall be for five (5) years. The three (3) alternate members shall serve, at the request of the Chairperson, in the absence of or the disqualification of the regular members. The Board shall elect its own Chairperson and Vice Chairperson who shall serve for one (1) or more terms of one (1) year each.
B. 
Vacancies on the Board shall be filled by the Mayor with the approval of the Board of Aldermen for the unexpired term of the vacating member.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.3), 4-27-2004]
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/her absence the Acting Chairman, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses. The Board of Adjustment shall keep minutes of all meetings, showing the vote of each member upon each question or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact and shall keep records of its examinations and other official actions, all of which shall be immediately filed in the office of the City Clerk and shall be public record. All testimony, objections thereto and rulings thereon shall be taken down by a reporter employed by the Board for that purpose.
B. 
The City of Clayton Code of Ordinances, including the Zoning Ordinance and Zoning District Map, the City's Master Plan which are or may hereafter be in force, shall automatically be part of the evidence at each hearing of the Board to the extent applicable without being specifically introduced at the hearing.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.4), 4-27-2004]
The Board shall hear and decide appeals in which it is alleged there is an error in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Building Official or an administrative official in the enforcement of the Zoning Ordinance (that Chapter of the Municipal Code which governs land use patterns and developments within the City of Clayton) and/or the State of Missouri Enabling Act, Sections 89.010 et seq., RSMo., as the same may be amended from time to time.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.5), 4-27-2004]
A. 
Area variances are a granting of relief from the requirements of this Chapter to permit construction in a manner otherwise prohibited by this Chapter where specific enforcement would result in an extreme hardship or severe practical difficulty because of the shape of the lot, topography or other natural situation not the fault of the applicant. In passing upon appeals, the Board of Adjustment is authorized to grant an area variance only upon findings that:
1. 
There are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships associated with the strict application of the Zoning Ordinance due to exceptional or unique circumstances or conditions such that strict application would deprive the owner of the reasonable use of the property; and
2. 
Granting the variance requested would observe the spirit of the Zoning Ordinance and secure public safety and welfare; and
3. 
The deviation from strict application of the Zoning Ordinance authorized by the area variance would not constitute a change in the district map, impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property, increase congestion in public streets, increase the danger of fire, materially diminish or impair established property values within the surrounding area and would not in any other respect impair the public health, safety, comfort, morals and welfare of the City of Clayton.
B. 
If an appeal for an area variance is granted, the Board shall grant the minimum variance necessary to allow the applicant reasonable use of his/her land.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.6), 4-27-2004]
A. 
Use variances are a granting of relief from the requirements of this Chapter to permit a use in a manner otherwise prohibited by this Chapter where specific enforcement would result in an extreme hardship because of the shape of the lot, topography or other natural situation not the fault of the applicant. The Board of Adjustment is authorized to grant use variances upon application or appeal in accordance with the State of Missouri Enabling Act, City of Clayton Code of Ordinances the City's Zoning Ordinance and the procedures set forth herein only upon findings that:
1. 
The applicant will be deprived of all beneficial use of the property under any of the permitted uses in the zoning district in which the property is located, all beneficial use being lost only where the property is not suitable for any use permitted in the Zoning Ordinance for that zoning district; and
2. 
The applicant has sufficiently demonstrated unnecessary hardship by expert testimony and/or documentation and not mere conclusionary or lay opinion that the property in question cannot yield a reasonable return if used only for a purpose or purposes permitted in the zoning district in which that property is located; and
3. 
The plight of the owner is due to exceptional or unique circumstances and not due to general conditions in the neighborhood; and
4. 
The use to be authorized by the variance would not alter the essential character of the neighborhood; and
5. 
The proposed use to be authorized by the use variance would not constitute a change in the district map, impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property, increase congestion in public streets, increase the danger of fire, materially diminish or impair established property values within the surrounding area and would not in any other respect impair the public health, safety, comfort, morals and welfare of the City.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.7), 4-27-2004]
A. 
The Board may grant variances from parking, loading and unloading regulations of the Zoning Ordinance, where the character or use of the building or premises make unnecessary the full provision of parking or loading or unloading facilities or when such regulations would impose an unreasonable hardship upon the use of the lot or tract of land, as contrasted with merely granting an advantage or convenience.
B. 
The Board may permit the extension of a district where the boundary line of a district divides a lot of record in single ownership.
C. 
The Board may grant an extension of time for the reconstruction of a non-conforming building which has been damaged by less than sixty percent (60%) of its replacement value by fire, explosion, flood, winds or other acts of God or the public enemy or by any other cause unrelated or unattributable to the owner.
D. 
The Board may interpret the provision of the Zoning Ordinance where the street layout actually on the ground varies from the street layout as shown on the official Zoning District Map fixing the districts, which map shall be on file at the Clayton City Hall and available for review and inspection.
E. 
In exercising the above-mentioned powers and all other powers authorized by law, the Board may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from and may make such order, requirement, decision or determination as ought to be made and to that end shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.8), 4-27-2004]
An application form for an appeal to the Board of Adjustment shall be completed and filed with the Building Official or his/her designee. An appeal to the Board of Adjustment, on any matter over which the Board is specifically granted jurisdiction, may be taken by any person aggrieved or affected by any rule, requirement, decision or determination. The appeal must be filed within thirty (30) days of the order, requirement, decision or determination. The application must specify the grounds for appeal.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.9), 4-27-2004]
A. 
The applicant must submit one (1) original and fourteen (14) copies of the application and all required documentation to the Building Official or his/her designee.
B. 
At the time that an appeal is filed, the applicant shall pay a fee as required by the fee schedule approved by the Board of Aldermen. The fee shall be paid to the City of Clayton to the credit of the General Revenue Fund of the City.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.10), 4-27-2004]
A. 
Upon receipt of an appeal, the Building Official or his/her designee shall transmit to the Board all the documentation constituting the record upon which the appeal is taken.
B. 
Notice of public hearing shall be published at least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing on each appeal in a newspaper of general circulation in the City. The Board shall also give due notice to the appellant and persons owning adjoining property of the subject of the appeal. Any interested party may appear at the Board's hearing in person or by agent or attorney.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.11), 4-27-2004]
A. 
An appeal to the Board stays all proceedings in furtherance of the order, requirement, decision or determination of the Building Official or his/her designee appealed from, unless the Building Official or his/her designee certifies to the Board, after the notice of appeal has been filed, that by reason of facts stated in the appeal, a stay would, in his/her opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In such cases, proceedings shall not be stayed except by a restraining order by a court of competent jurisdiction.
B. 
The Board shall hear and decide appeals within a reasonable time period. The order, requirement, decision or determination of the Board must be made a part of any building permit to be issued due to a decision of the Board.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.12), 4-27-2004]
The concurring vote of four (4) members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse or modify any order, requirement, decision or determination of the Building Official or his/her designee or to decide in favor of the applicant on any matter upon which it is required to pass under this Chapter.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.13), 4-27-2004]
An appeal may be withdrawn prior to the vote of the Board of Adjustment upon written notice to the Building Official or his/her designee.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.14), 4-27-2004]
Applications for building permits, authorized by a decision of the Board, must be submitted within one (1) year after the decision of the Board. If no application for a building permit is submitted within the one (1) year period, the variance is automatically rescinded. Any variance granted by the Board which does not require an application for a building permit is automatically rescinded after one (1) year from the date of the Board's decision if no use of the variance is made within the one (1) year period.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.15), 4-27-2004]
In the event that the Board denies an application for variance, no request for hearing upon the same application will be accepted for a period of at least one (1) year from date of denial by the Board.
[Ord. No. 5814 §1(8.16), 4-27-2004]
Any person or persons or any officer, department, board or bureau of the City, jointly or severally aggrieved by any decision of the Board may present to the Circuit Court having jurisdiction in St. Louis County a petition, duly verified, setting forth that such decision is illegal, in whole or in part, specifying the grounds of the illegality and asking for relief therefrom. Such petition must be presented to the Court within thirty (30) days after the filing of the decision of the Board of Adjustment.