There is hereby established a Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) which shall perform its duties and exercise its powers as provided in Article
VI of Act 110 of 2006, as amended, and in such a way that the objectives of this chapter
shall be observed, public safety secured, and substantial justice
done. The Board shall consist of six members appointed by the City
Commission. Appointments shall be as follows: two members appointed
for a period of one year; two members appointed for a period of two
years; and two members appointed for a period of three years, respectively;
thereafter, each member to hold office for a full three-year term.
In addition, the City Commission may appoint two alternate members
who may be called upon to serve in the absence of a regular member,
or for the purpose of reaching a decision on a case in which a regular
member has abstained for reasons of conflict of interest. Any vacancies
in the Board shall be filled by appointment by the City Commission
for the remainder of the unexpired term. The ZBA shall annually elect
its own Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary. The compensation of
the appointed members of the Board of Zoning Appeals may be fixed
by the City Commission.
The ZBA shall have the authority to:
A. Grant variances from the requirements of this chapter.
B. Interpret the Zoning Ordinance and the Zoning Map.
C. Permit a legal nonconforming use of land or structures to be changed to another nonconforming use under the procedures contained in §
7-20.08 of this chapter.
[Amended 5-17-2012]
The Planning Department and the Planning Commission are responsible
for interpreting this chapter as part of their responsibility as the
primary administrators of the chapter. They may request the ZBA to
interpret provisions of this chapter as outlined below. Each such
interpretation shall establish the precedent for future treatment
of the issue being addressed. To achieve the objective of consistent
enforcement of this chapter, whenever an interpretation question arises
which has been addressed previously by the ZBA, the earlier interpretation
shall apply without requiring further action by the ZBA. The Planning
Department shall keep a concise record of all interpretations made
by the ZBA to facilitate such reference.
A. The ZBA may classify any activity which is not specifically mentioned in Articles
III through
XI for any zoning district as a use by right or special use, provided that said classification shall be consistent with the classification of similar uses and with the purpose and intent of each zoning district. In carrying out this interpretation, the ZBA may not interpret a specific use as being included in a broader class of uses if that specific use is listed separately in other zoning districts.
B. The ZBA may determine the off-street parking and loading space requirements of any use for which these requirements are not determinable by the Planning Commission as provided for in Article
XVI.
C. The ZBA may interpret any portion of this chapter when the Planning
Department is unable to clearly determine its intent or effect.
These appellate procedures are instituted to hear and decide
appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision, or determination
made by an administrative official or body charged with the enforcement
of the Zoning Ordinance.
A. An appeal shall be filed with the officer from whom the appeal is
taken and with the ZBA, through the zoning administration specifying
the grounds for the appeal.
B. Applications for appeals of administrative actions shall be submitted
to the Planning Department within 30 days of the date of such actions.
C. The officer from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit
to the ZBA all papers constituting the record upon which the appeal
is taken.
D. An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of action appealed
from, unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken certifies to
the ZBA after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with them,
that by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would in
their opinion cause imminent peril to life or property, in which case,
proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order,
which may be granted by the ZBA, or by the Circuit Court, on application,
on notice to the officer from whom the appeal is taken, and on due
cause shown.
E. The ZBA may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the
order, requirements or determination appealed from and in making an
order, requirement, decision or determination, shall have the powers
of the officer or body from whom the appeal is taken.