The Board of Zoning Appeals may hear and decide, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, requests for zoning variances.
A. 
The application for a zoning variance may be made by any property owner, tenant, government official, department, board or bureau. The application shall be made to the Zoning Administrator in accordance with rules adopted by the Board. The application and accompanying maps, plans or other information shall be transmitted promptly to the Board. Not more than 60 days after filing such application, a hearing shall be held on the application. Notice of the hearing shall be in accordance with the hearing procedures in § 15.1-431, Code of Virginia 1950, as amended. A fee (see Appendix D) shall be charged to partially defray the cost of review and processing for each application for a variance, except that the fee shall be waived for any governmental agency. (See Appendix A for procedure).[1]
[Amended 11-11-1996]
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendices A, B, C and D are on file in the office of the Town Manager.
B. 
The Zoning Administrator shall transmit a copy of the variance application and accompanying maps, plans and other information to the Planning Commission, which may submit a recommendation to the Board.
It shall be the general rule of the Board that reasonable efforts shall be made to contact and notify interested parties who, in the opinion of the Board, may be affected by any matter brought before the Board. In all cases all owners of record of adjoining property, including those separated by a public way from the premises in question, shall be notified. The notification required to meet this provision shall be accomplished by certified mail addressed to the respective owner at the address given in the latest tax assessment.
The Board shall not grant a variance unless it finds that:
A. 
The property owner acquired the property in good faith and that, by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness, size or shape or exceptional topographical conditions or other extraordinary conditions of the property or of the use or development of property immediately adjacent to it, the strict application of the terms of this chapter would effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict the use of the property;
B. 
The strict application of the ordinance would produce undue hardship;
C. 
The hardship is not generally shared by other properties in the same zoning district and the same vicinity;
D. 
The Board is satisfied, upon the evidence heard by it, that the granting of such variance will alleviate a demonstrable hardship approaching confiscation, as distinguished from a special privilege or convenience sought by the applicant;
E. 
The authorization of such variance will not be of substantial detriment to adjacent property and that the character of the district will not be changed by the granting of the variance;
F. 
The condition or situation of the property concerned or the intended use of the property is not of so general or recurring a nature as to make reasonably practicable the formulation of a general regulation to be adopted as an amendment to this chapter;
G. 
The variance shall be in harmony with the intended spirit and purpose of this chapter;
H. 
Financial concerns shall not be the sole consideration as a basis for granting a variance; and
I. 
Granting the variance requested will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that is denied by this chapter to other lands, structures or buildings in the same district.
No permitted or nonconforming use of neighboring lands, structures or buildings in the same district or in other districts shall be considered grounds for the issuance of a variance.
Under no circumstances shall the Board of Zoning Appeals grant a variance to allow a use not permitted under the terms of this chapter in the district involved or any use expressly or by implication prohibited by the terms of this chapter in said district.
The Board may impose such conditions and restrictions upon the premises benefited by a variance as may be necessary to comply with the provisions set out in § 171-92 to reduce or minimize the injurious effect of such variance upon surrounding property and to better carry out the general intent of this chapter. The Board may establish expiration dates as a condition or as a part of the variance. The Board may require a guarantee or bond to insure that the conditions imposed are being and will continue to be complied with.
Any person including any agency of the town government aggrieved by a decision of the Board on a variance may appeal any decision of the Board to the Circuit Court of the county as provided for in § 15.1-497, Code of Virginia 1950 (as amended).