A.
A Board of Appeals is hereby established. The word "Board," when
used in this article, shall be construed to mean the Board of Appeals.
The Board shall consist of seven members who shall be freeholders
appointed by the President upon approval by the Village Board. The
terms of office of the members of the Board shall be five years, except
that the seven members first appointed shall serve respectively for
the terms of one, two, three, four, five, six and seven years. Thereafter,
as each term expires, the appointment shall be for five years. Vacancies
shall be filled by the appointing authority for the unexpired term
of the member whose place has become vacant, which appointing authority
shall have the power to remove any member of the Board for cause,
after notice and hearing. One of the members of the Board shall be
named as Chairman at the time of his appointment.
B.
Meetings of the Board 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 the
attendance of witnesses. All meetings of the Board shall be open to
the public. The Board shall keep a stenographic report of its proceedings,
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 Board and shall be public record.
C.
The cost of preparing the stenographic transcript of the witnesses
appearing before the Board shall be the responsibility of the party
appealing.
A.
Petitions to the Village Board for variations or exceptions and/or
appeals may be made by any person or by an officer, department, board
or bureau of the Village affected by any decision of the Zoning Inspector.
The appeal shall be taken within 45 days by filing with the Zoning
Inspector and with the Village Board a notice of appeal, specifying
the grounds thereof. The Zoning Inspector shall forthwith transmit
to the Village Board all papers constituting the record from which
the action appealed from is taken.[1]
(1)
An appeal shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action
appealed from, unless the Zoning Inspector certifies to the Village
Board, after notice of appeal shall have been filed with him, that,
by reason of the facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in
his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In such case,
proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order,
which may be granted by the Village Board or by a court of record.
(2)
The Village Board shall refer any such petition or appeal to the
Board and shall take no action until it has received the report of
the Board. The Board shall hold a public hearing upon each petition
or appeal. Fifteen days' notice of the time, place and purpose of
such hearing shall be given in the official newspaper. After the hearing,
the Board shall make a report to the Village Board of its findings
of fact. If the Board recommends against the granting of such petition
or appeal, the order granting such petition or appeal can be adopted
only by a favorable two-thirds vote of the members of the Village
Board.
B.
The Board shall also hear and decide appeals where it is alleged
that there is error in any order, requirement, decision or determination
made by the Zoning Inspector in the enforcement of this chapter.
C.
All appeals and petitions shall be in writing in duplicate and shall
be filed with the Zoning Inspector, who shall present the same at
the next regular meeting of the Village Board.
The Village Board may authorize, by ordinance and after a hearing
and report by the Board, the following exceptions to the terms of
this chapter:
A.
Permit the extension of a district where the boundary line of a district
divides a lot in a single ownership at the time of the passage of
this chapter (9-27-1965).
B.
Interpret the provisions of this chapter in such a way as to carry
out the intent and purpose of the plan, as shown upon the map fixing
the several districts accompanying and made a part of this chapter,
where the street layout actually on the ground varies from the street
layout as shown on the map aforesaid.
C.
Permit the erection and use of a building or the use of premises
in any location for a public service corporation for public utility
purposes which the Village Board determines reasonably necessary for
the public convenience or welfare.
D.
Waive or reduce the parking and loading requirements in any of the
districts whenever the character or use of the buildings is such as
to make unnecessary the full provision of parking or loading facilities,
or where such regulations would impose an unreasonable hardship upon
the use of the lot, as contrasted with merely granting an advantage
or a convenience.
E.
Permit an off-street parking area in an R-4 District where this would
relieve traffic congestion on the streets, provided such parking area
conforms to the following conditions:
(1)
The entire area is located within 200 feet of a C District, exclusive
of any publicly dedicated right-of-way.
(2)
The area shall be used exclusively for the parking of vehicles belonging
to invitees of the owner or lessee of the lot.
(3)
Walls, fencing, or planting shall be permitted to protect and be
in harmony with surrounding residential property.
(4)
The parking area shall not include any required front yard in the
district in which it is located.
(5)
All driveways and the area used for parking spaces shall be properly
drained and surfaced with a hard, durable, dust-proof material; and
plans and specifications for same, together with the locations of
entrances and exits, shall be approved by the Village Engineer.
(6)
The area shall conform to such other reasonable requirements as the
Village Board may require for the protection of surrounding property,
persons and residential values.
F.
To determine whether an industry should be permitted within the M-1
Light Industrial and the M-2 Heavy Industrial District because of
the methods by which it would be operated and because of its effect
upon uses within surrounding zoning districts.
Where, by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape
of a specific piece of property or by reason of exceptional topographical
conditions or other extraordinary or exceptional situation or condition
of a specific piece of property, the strict application of any provision
of this chapter would result in peculiar and exceptional practical
difficulties and clearly demonstrable hardship upon the owner of such
property, amounting to practical confiscation thereof, and not a mere
inconvenience to such owner, the Village Board may authorize, by ordinance,
and after hearing a report of the Board, a variation in the strict
application of the terms of the chapter to the extent that justice
may be done, provided such variation can be granted without substantial
detriment to the public good and without substantially impairing the
general purpose and intent of the Comprehensive Plan as established
by the regulations and provisions contained in this chapter.
