At any hearing on any appeal or application, evidence shall be presented and/or testimony taken in such manner and to such extent as the Board of Appeals may determine or may deem necessary; and the Board may, in its discretion, prescribe reasonable limits for the presentation of evidence, the taking of testimony and/or the argument in connection with any such appeal or application. Examination of witnesses, if any, shall be conducted under oath unless, with the consent of the Board, the facts are agreed upon or testimony taken by deposition or in other proceedings is allowed to be presented. The Chairman may direct that no document offered in evidence at any hearing will be received in evidence or marked for identification unless a copy thereof is also presented and filed with the Board. All documents, maps, plans, surveys, etc., presented as evidence shall become part of the official record and shall remain in the files of the Board.
In any case, the Board of Appeals may require additional proof to be presented; may require the production and presentation of maps, plans or specifications or photos as to any structure proposed to be erected, altered or extended; may of its own motion take proof other than that presented by the parties; or may personally make or have made on its behalf an investigation of and/or report on the property, building or erection concerned in the appeal or application.
The Chairman and members of the Board, at their discretion, shall make a tour of inspection prior to the date of public hearing.
Hearings may be adjourned from time to time by the Board of Appeals.
The Board of Appeals may delegate one or more of its members to act as a special committee to investigate any phase of the question presented to the Board in any appeal or application, and such committee shall report its findings to the Board for its decision and determination.
Briefs may be submitted or may be required to be submitted to the Board of Appeals in any case.
The Board of Appeals, in its discretion, may allow any petition, answer, application or other paper to be amended or corrected or omission to be supplied therein upon the hearing or otherwise.
In the event that, at any hearing on any appeal or application, the appellant or applicant shall fail to appear in person or by agent or attorney and shall not present to the Board of Appeals a satisfactory excuse for his nonappearance and obtain the consent of the Board to an adjournment of the hearing, the Board, in its discretion, may dismiss such appeal or application or may adjourn the hearing thereon or may proceed with such hearing; and after taking such evidence and hearing such testimony as may be presented by other interested parties present at such hearing and taking such other proof as it may deem necessary, it may make such order, requirement, decision or determination as, to the Board, may seem just and proper.
In its decision upon any appeal or application, the Board of Appeals shall not be restricted to granting or refusing relief in the exact form demanded in the appeal or application, but may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, and may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from and shall make such order, requirement, decision or determination as, in its opinion, ought to be made in the premises.
Unless at the time of the granting of a variance or conditional use the Board shall otherwise order or, for good cause shown the Board, shall extend the time, any and all variances or conditional uses hereafter granted by the Board of Appeals shall lapse and cease to be effective, unless within six months from the date of the granting thereof the permit required to be issued thereunder shall have been duly issued by the Building Inspector. Any and all variances and conditional uses heretofore granted shall likewise lapse and cease to be effective, unless within six months from the adoption of this rule the permit required to be issued thereunder shall have been duly issued by the Building Inspector. The lapse of any variance, however, under this rule shall not preclude the applicant from making a new application for the same relief, except that he shall be bound by the law and the facts as they then exist.
All orders, requirements, decisions and determinations made by the Board of Appeals in connection with any appeal or application shall be filed in the office of the Board, and notice of the rendering of such order, requirement, decision or determination shall be served upon the party taking such appeal or making such application. Certified copies of any order, requirement, decision or determination shall be served upon the party taking such appeal or making such application. Certified copies of any such order, requirements, decision or determination may be obtained from the Village Clerk or Village Clerk-Treasurer upon the payment of the charges in connection therewith.
The Board of Appeals at its absolute discretion may, upon the showing of the existence of new facts or new conditions by an interested party, reopen a case or grant a rehearing thereof upon the unanimous vote of those members present, upon such terms and conditions and with such notice to interested parties as the Board may deem necessary or desirable. Upon motion initiated by any member and adopted by the unanimous vote of the members present, but not less than a majority of all the members, the Board of Appeals shall review, at a rehearing held upon notice given as upon the original hearing, any order, decision or determination of the Board not previously reviewed.