A. 
Scope of appeals. Appeals to the Zoning Board of Appeals may be taken by any person aggrieved or by any officer, department, board or bureau of the Village affected by any decision of the administrative officer. Such appeal shall be taken within 30 days of the alleged grievance or judgment in question by filing with the officer from whom the appeal is taken and with the Zoning Board of Appeals a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof, together with payment of a filing fee as may be established by the Village Board. The officer from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the Zoning Board of Appeals all papers constituting the record of appeals upon which the action appealed from was taken.
B. 
Stay of proceedings. An appeal shall stay all legal proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the Zoning Board of Appeals that, by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his opinion, cause immediate peril to life or property. In such cases, proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals or by a court of record on application, on notice to the officer from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.
C. 
Powers of Zoning Board of Appeals. In addition to those powers enumerated elsewhere in this Code of Ordinances, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the following powers:
(1) 
Errors. To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Zoning Administrator or Building Inspector.
(2) 
Variances. To hear and grant appeals for variances in accordance with the procedures and requirements of § 595-124.
(3) 
Interpretations. To hear and decide applications for interpretations of the zoning regulations and the boundaries of the zoning districts; the Plan Commission may make a recommendation but it is not mandatory.
(4) 
Substitutions. To hear and grant applications for substitution of more restrictive nonconforming uses for existing nonconforming uses, provided that no structural alterations are to be made and the Plan Commission has made a review and recommendation. Whenever the Board permits such a substitution, the use may not thereafter be changed without application.
(5) 
Unclassified uses. To hear and grant applications for unclassified and unspecified uses, provided that such uses are similar in character to the principal uses permitted in the district; the Plan Commission may make a recommendation but is not mandatory.
(6) 
Temporary uses. To hear and grant applications for temporary uses in any district, provided that such uses are of a temporary nature, do not involve the erection of a substantial structure and are compatible with the neighboring uses and the Plan Commission has made a review and recommendation. The permit shall be temporary, revocable, subject to any condition required by the Zoning Board of Appeals and shall be issued for a period not to exceed 12 months. Compliance with all other provisions of this chapter shall be required.
(7) 
Permits. The Board may reverse, affirm wholly or partly, or modify the requirements appealed from and may issue or direct the issue of a permit.
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing, cause notice thereof to be published in the official newspaper not less than seven days prior thereto, and cause notice to be given to the appellant or applicant and the administrative officer appealed from by regular mail or by personal service not less than five days prior to the date of the hearing. In every case involving a variance, notice shall also be mailed not less than five days prior to the hearing of the fee owners of record of all land within 100 feet of any part of the subject building or premises involved in the appeal.
A. 
Time frame. The Zoning Board of 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 and the Zoning Administrator.
B. 
Conditions. Conditions may be placed upon any zoning permit ordered or authorized by this Board.
C. 
Validity. Variances, substitutions or use permits granted by the Board shall expire within 18 months unless substantial work has commenced pursuant to such grant.
A. 
Purpose.
(1) 
A request for a variance may be made when an aggrieved party can submit proof that strict adherence to the provisions of this chapter would cause him undue hardship or create conditions causing greater harmful effects than the initial condition. A variance granted to a nonconforming use brings that use into conformance with the district and zoning requirements.
(2) 
The Zoning Board of Appeals may authorize upon appeal, in specific cases, such variance from the terms of the Zoning Code as will not be contrary to the public interest, where owing to special conditions a literal enforcement of the provisions of the Zoning Code will result in unnecessary hardship, and so that the spirit of the Zoning Code shall be observed and substantial justice done. No variance shall have the effect of allowing in any district uses prohibited in that district, permit a lower degree of flood protection than the flood protection elevation for the particular area or permit standards lower than those required by state law.
(3) 
For the purposes of this section, "unnecessary hardship" shall be defined as an unusual or extreme decrease in the adaptability of the property to the uses permitted by the zoning district which is caused by facts, such as rough terrain or good soil conditions, uniquely applicable to the particular piece of property as distinguished from those applicable to most or all property in the same zoning district.
B. 
Application for variance. The application for a variance shall be filed with the Village Clerk. Applications may be made by the owner or lessee of the structure, land or water to be affected. The application shall contain the following information:
(1) 
Name and address of the applicant and all abutting and opposite property owners of record.
(2) 
Statement that the applicant is the owner or the authorized agent of the owner of the property.
(3) 
Address and description of the property.
(4) 
A site plan showing an accurate depiction of the property.
(5) 
Additional information required by the Village Clerk, Building Inspector, Village Engineer, Zoning Board of Appeals, and/or Zoning Administrator.
C. 
Public hearing of application. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall conduct at least one public hearing on the proposed variance. Notice of such hearing shall be given not more than 30 days and not less than seven days before the hearing in one or more of the newspapers in general circulation in the Village, and due notice shall be given to the parties in interest, the Zoning Administrator and the Village Board. At the hearing the appellant or applicant may appear in person, by agent or by attorney. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall thereafter reach its decision within 30 days after the final hearing and shall transmit a written copy of its decision to the appellant or applicant, Zoning Administrator and Village Board.
D. 
Action of the Zoning Board of Appeals. For the Board to grant a variance, it must find that:
(1) 
Denial of the variance may result in hardship to the property owner due to physiographical consideration. 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 would not be of so general or recurrent nature as to suggest that this chapter should be changed.
(2) 
The conditions upon which a petition for a variance is based are unique to the property for which the variance is being sought and that such variance is necessary for the preservation and enjoyment of substantial property rights possessed by other properties in the same district and same vicinity.
(3) 
The purpose of the variance is not based exclusively upon a desire to increase the value or income potential of the property.
(4) 
The granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the other property or improvements in the neighborhood in which the property is located.
(5) 
The proposed variance will not undermine the spirit and general and specific purposes of this chapter.
E. 
Conditions. The Zoning Board of Appeals may impose such conditions and restrictions upon the premises benefited by a variance as may be necessary to comply with the standards established in this section.
F. 
Standards for qualifying for a variance. To qualify for a variance, the applicant must demonstrate that his property meets the following three requirements:
(1) 
Unique property limitations.
(a) 
The applicant must show that the property has conditions that are unique or special to that property and that such unique physical characteristics prevent compliance with the regulations of this Zoning Code. Examples, but not limited to, of such conditions are physical limitations unique to the property such as wetlands or exceptionally unique steep slopes.
(b) 
The following are nonexclusive examples of items Wisconsin courts have decided cannot be a basis for granting a variance under the "unique property limitation" test:
[1] 
Financial considerations of the applicant.
[2] 
The personal circumstances of the applicant (i.e., need for an expanded garage, a growing family, an unemployed family member returning home, etc.).
[3] 
The existence of nearby Zoning Code regulations.
[4] 
Lack of objections from neighbors.
(2) 
No harm to public interests. To qualify for a variance, the applicant must demonstrate that the proposed variance is not contrary to the public interest. In applying this test, the Zoning Board of Appeals must consider the impacts of the variance proposal, and, if setting a precedent, the cumulative impacts of similar projects on the interests of the neighbors, the overall Village of Grantsburg and the general public. Such factors are generally identified in § 595-4.
(3) 
Unnecessary hardship.
(a) 
To qualify for a variance, the applicant must demonstrate that the special condition(s) of the property creates an unnecessary hardship. When determining whether an unnecessary hardship exists, the property as a whole shall be considered rather than a portion of the property.
(b) 
The following are nonexclusive examples of items Wisconsin courts have decided cannot be a basis for granting a variance under the "unnecessary hardship" test:
[1] 
Conditions which are self-imposed or created by a prior owner (i.e., owner expands home and then argues there is no suitable location for a proposed new garage).
[2] 
Economic or financial hardship to the applicant (i.e., construction of a new garage in a complying location would cost more than placing the garage in a location requiring a variance).
[3] 
Lack of objections from neighbors.
(c) 
Due to Wisconsin court decisions, the unnecessary hardship determination requires that the Zoning Board of Appeals apply different tests for use variances and area variances.
[1] 
For a use variance, unnecessary hardship can be determined to exist only if the property owner can show that he/she would have no reasonable use of the property without a variance. A use variance would permit a property owner to put property to an otherwise prohibited use.
[2] 
For an area variance, unnecessary hardship can be determined to exist only if the property owner can show that compliance with the requirements of the Zoning Code would unreasonably prevent the property owner from using the land for a permitted purpose (leaving the property owner without any use that is permitted for the property under the Zoning Code) or would render conformity with such zoning restrictions unnecessarily burdensome. Area variances are intended to provide an increment of relief (usually small) from a physical dimensional requirement of the Zoning Code such as building height or setback requirements. In applying the test for an area variance, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall consider the purpose of the Zoning Code, the Zoning Code's restrictions on the applicant's property, and the cumulative effects granting of a variance would have on the neighborhood, community and on the public interests.
[3] 
Unless the Zoning Board of Appeals finds that a property cannot be used for any permitted purpose, area variances shall not be granted for greater than a forty-percent deviation in the area, setback, height or density requirements specified in this chapter.
Any person or persons aggrieved by any decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals may present to a 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 Zoning Board of Appeals.