City of Lincoln, IL Zoning Board of Appeals

[Ord. 472, 7-6-1998; Ord. 635, 6-19-2006]

The Zoning Board of Appeals shall hear and decide appeals from any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the enforcing officer. It shall also hear and decide all matters referred to it or upon which it is required to pass under mobile home park and zoning provisions[1] of this Code. The board may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify or amend the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from to the extent and in the manner that the board may decide to be fitting and proper in the premises, and to that end the board shall also have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken. It is the intention of this procedure to provide a flexible method for relaxing the rigid requirements of City ordinances in cases of individual need; it is not designed to work major changes in the zoning plan. The Zoning Board of Appeals may determine and vary regulations of this Code related to use, construction or alteration of buildings or structures or to the use of land when it determines there are practical difficulties or particular hardship in the way of carrying out the strict letter of any of those regulations. Said authority of the board of appeals shall be exercised in accordance with the conditions prescribed in 65 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/11-13-4, subject to the power of the corporate authorities to prohibit, in whole or in part, the granting of variations in respect to the classification, regulation and restriction of the location of trade and industries and the location of buildings designed for specific industrial, business, residential and other uses. Practical difficulties or specific unnecessary hardship (to protect the public welfare) must be shown in order to grant a variation. Instances in which the Zoning Board of Appeals may grant variations include, but are not limited to, the following:

To permit the extension of a district where the boundary line of a district divides a lot in single ownership as shown of record.

To permit the reconstruction of a nonconforming building which has been destroyed or damaged to an extent of more than 50% of its value by fire or act of God or the public enemy, where the board finds some compelling public necessity requiring a continuance of the nonconforming use, but in no case shall such a permit be issued if its primary function is to continue a monopoly.

To make a variance by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of a specific piece of property of record, or by reason or exceptional topographical conditions, the strict application of any provision of this chapter would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties or particular hardship upon the owner of such property and amount to a practical confiscation of property, as distinguished from a mere inconvenience to such owner, provided such relief 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 the zoning regulations.

To interpret the provisions of the zoning regulations where the street layout actually on the ground varies from the street layout as shown on the district map fixing the several districts.

To waive the parking requirements in the business or industrial districts whenever the character or use of the building is such as to make unnecessary the full provision of parking facilities or where such regulations would impose an unreasonable hardship upon the use of the lot, as contrasted with merely granting an advantage or convenience.

To permit a building to be erected, reconstructed, altered or enlarged so that the building lines will extend the distance specified in the zoning regulations into side yards or into front yards provided that such variance may not be granted:

(a)

Unless there is a building in the block which extends beyond the distance from the front street line specified in the zoning regulations, in which case the building line may be permitted to extend as near to the front street line as such nonconforming building;

(b)

Unless the lot is irregular in shape, topography or size; or

(c)

Unless the street line of the lot is directly opposite the street line of a lot which is irregular in shape, topography or size;

(d)

Except that in the case where the side lot line abuts an alley line, after a public hearing, existing schools, churches and public buildings may be expanded or enlarged to the alley line.

To permit in any district such modifications of the requirements of the regulations of Title 11 of this Code, as the board may deem necessary to secure an appropriate development of a lot where adjacent to such lot on two or more sides there are buildings that do not conform to the regulations of the district in which they are located.

To determine the classification of any use not specifically listed in the ordinance as to the appropriate district therefor, based on the use and its compatibility with other uses specifically permitted in the district.

[1]

See Titles 10 and 11, respectively, of this Code.

(B)

Before any variation is granted, the board shall make findings based upon the evidence presented at a public hearing. The specific findings the board shall consider in making a variation are as follows:

The plight of the owners due to special and unique circumstances; in determining the hardship, the hardship cannot be self-created by the petitioning party.

The variation, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the locality.

That after balancing the interest of the surrounding property owners, the benefits of granting the variation outweigh the depreciation of neighboring properties, if any.

(C)

Nothing herein contained shall be construed to give or grant to the board the power or authority to alter or change the zoning regulations or the district map, such power and authority being reserved to the City Council. The board of appeals may impose such conditions and restrictions upon the use of the premises benefited by a variation, in a specified case, after an application for a permit has been made to the enforcing officer and after duly advertised public hearing held by the board as prescribed by statute. The notice of hearing shall contain the address or location of the property for which the variation or other ruling by the board is sought, as well as a brief description of the nature of the appeal. The applicant shall pay, to the City Treasurer, at the time of the filing of the appeal for the variance, an amount, as determined by the City Code enforcement officer, to cover the cost of publication and postage. The Zoning Board of Appeals may, at the time the decision is rendered, remit all or part of the appeal fee, as the board may deem fair.