It shall be the duty of the Building Official to enforce this chapter.

(Ord. No. 169, § 9-1, 6-29-74)

(a)

A certificate of occupancy, either for the whole or part of a new Building or for alteration of an existing Building, shall be applied for coincident with the application for a building permit, and shall be issued within seven days after the erection or alteration of such Building or part shall have been completed in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.

(b)

A certificate of occupancy for the use of occupancy of vacant land, for a change in the use of land, or for a change in the use of an existing Building shall be applied for and issued before any such land shall be occupied or used or changed in use, and such certificate shall be issued within seven days after application has been made, provided such proposed use is in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.

(c)

No vacant land shall be occupied or used, and no Structure hereafter erected, constructed, reconstructed or structurally altered shall be used or changed in use until a certificate of occupancy has been issued by the Building Official.

(d)

A certificate of occupancy shall be issued for the purpose of maintaining, renewing, changing or extending a Nonconforming Use existing on June 29, 1974 and such certificate shall state that the use does not conform with the provisions of this chapter. For the purpose of complying with this requirement, the Building Official shall mail such certificate to the Occupants or Owners of all such Property within 30 days after the passage of this chapter.

(e)

A record of all certificates of occupancy shall be kept on file in the office of the Building Official, and a copy shall be furnished on request to any Person having a proprietary or tenancy interest in the Building or land affected.

(Ord. No. 169, § 9-2, 6-29-74)

The Council of the Village shall have the power to approve, disapprove or modify any decision of the Building Official with respect to certificates of occupancy or with regard to any decision of the Building Official made in the course of the performance of his duties.

(Ord. No. 169, § 12, 6-29-74)

(a)

All applications for nonuse variances or for other public hearings or approvals required under this Code shall be initiated by the filing of an application with the Village Building Official on a form prescribed by the Village Manager, executed and sworn to by the Owners of at least 80 percent of the Property described in the application, by Tenants with the Owner's Written, sworn-to consent, or by duly authorized agents, such agent to be evidenced by a Written power of attorney if not a member of the Florida Bar. If the application proposes changes to any portion of a Property subject to a lease with a term of at least 20 years, the application must be accompanied by the Written, sworn-to consent of the leaseholder.

(b)

The following fees shall be paid to the Village at the time of filing an application for a nonuse variance or for a public hearing and prior to any processing action being taken on such applications:

(c)

In addition to the basic application fees listed in subsection (b) of this section, applicants shall pay the Village for all reasonable costs, including advertising incurred by the Village, in processing the applications. These costs shall include but not be limited to costs for qualified experts such as professionals, engineers, economists, planners, attorneys and others deemed reasonably necessary for the proper and complete review and evaluation of the application. Applicants may be required to pay a reasonable cost advance for nonuse variances which will require substantial expert participation. All costs shall be paid to the Village before the building permit shall be issued.

(d)

If a zoning application is denied by the Village Council, the same application may not be refiled until a 12-month period from the date of the denial has lapsed.

(e)

Where an application for public hearing under this chapter has been filed with the Village and scheduled and noticed for public hearing before the Council, no such application may be withdrawn by the applicant without the approval of the Council and thereafter no application for public hearing may be filed on the same property or portion thereof within six months of the date of withdrawal without Council approval.

(Ord. No. 217, § 1, 7-29-80; Ord. No. 308, § 1, 9-15-87; Ord. No. 333, § 1, 7-18-89; Ord. No. 371, § 2, 4-21-92; Ord. No. 420, § 1, 12-17-96; Ord. No. 2024-657, § 3, 3-5-24)

(a)

Generally. When an application has been filed under this Chapter by the Village or another person and requires a public hearing, it shall be reviewed and approved, denied, or approved with conditions by the Village Council. The Village Manager or his designee shall analyze the application and prepare a written recommendation for the Village Council that shall become a part of the hearing file.

(b)

Notice of Village Council hearing. No action on the application shall be taken by the Village Council until a public hearing has been held, upon at least ten days' notice as provided in this Subsection and in accordance with general law.

(1)

Published notice required. The date, time and place of such hearing shall be published in accordance with Chapter 50, Florida Statutes, as may be amended from time to time, at least ten days prior to the date of the hearing. Such notice shall include: (i) the title of each proposed ordinance or resolution or a description of each proposed action, (ii) a statement that all interested parties may appear at the meeting and be heard on the proposed action, and (iii) the places within the Village where the proposed ordinance or resolution or information about the proposed action may be inspected by the public.

(2)

Posted notice required. If the application proposes to approve development on a specific Lot or Lots, notice shall be posted on the Lot or one of the Lots which is the subject of an application by the applicant at the applicant's expense. Posted notices shall be provided by the Village.

a.

Posted notices shall include the date, time, and place of any hearing, the type of application being considered, the application number, where further information can be obtained, and a statement that all interested parties may appear at the meeting and be heard with respect to the proposed ordinance, resolution, or action.

b.

Posted notices shall be posted at least 10 days prior to the date of the public hearing.

c.

If more than one public hearing is held on a matter, the date, time and place of all hearings shall be stated on the posted notice, or the notice shall be updated and changed as applicable.

d.

The posted notice shall be visible from adjacent Streets and rights-of-way.

e.

If the subject property is adjacent to more than one Street or right-of-way, a notice shall be posted facing each of them.

f.

If the posted notice is destroyed or removed from the Lot, the applicant is responsible for obtaining another notice from the Village and posting it on the property within five days of the applicant discovering that the posted notice was destroyed or removed. If the applicant timely replaces the sign in accordance with this subsection, the destruction or removal will not be construed as a failure to post notice in accordance with this section, and the public hearing may proceed as scheduled.

g.

The posted notice shall remain on the Lot until final disposition of the application. This shall include any deferral, rehearing, appeal, request for review or hearings by another body. The information on the posted notice shall be timely changed as provided in subsection (2)b.

h.

No later than five days prior to the public hearing, the applicant shall execute and submit to the building department (i) photographs of the posted notice, and (ii) an affidavit of proof of the posting of the public notice according to this section in a form acceptable to the Village. If the applicant fails to timely submit the affidavit and accompanying photographs, the public hearing will be postponed until the next public hearing after the affidavit has been timely supplied.

i.

Any applicant other than the Village shall pay a deposit at the time application is made, in an amount to be determined by resolution of the Village Council. All posted notices shall be removed by the applicant and returned to the Village within five days after final disposition of the application. If the applicant fails to timely remove and return the posted notice, the Village may remove the notice and the applicant will forfeit the deposit fee. If a posted notice is lost or stolen, an affidavit by the applicant of such fact shall be submitted prior to return of the deposit to applicant.

j.

Should the application be continued or deferred for greater than 60 days, the posted notice shall be removed and reestablished in accordance with this section.

(3)

Mailed courtesy notice.

a.

The applicant shall provide a certified list of all property owners within a 300-foot radius of the perimeter of the Lot or Lots that is the subject of the application, or such greater radius as may be considered appropriate by the Village Manager.

b.

The Village shall mail, at the applicant's expense, a courtesy notice containing substantially the same information set forth in the published notice to the Property Owners of record, their Tenants or their agents, within a radius of 300 feet of the Property described in the application or such greater distance as the Village Manager may prescribe. Failure to mail or receive such courtesy notice shall not affect any action or proceedings taken under this division.

(c)

Notice of Local Planning Agency hearing.

(1)

When the Village Council is serving as the Village's Local Planning Agency and will make a recommendation on an ordinance, resolution or other application, no recommendation may be made until a hearing has been held, upon at least ten days' notice as provided in this Subsection and in accordance with general law.

(2)

The date, time and place of the Local Planning Agency hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Village at least ten days prior to such hearing. Such notice shall include the title of each proposed application, a statement that all interested parties may appear at the meeting and be heard on the proposed action, and the places within the Village where the proposed ordinance or information about the proposed action may be inspected by the public.

(d)

Additional optional notice of hearings. The Village Council or Village Manager may direct that additional courtesy notice be given of a Village Council hearing or Local Planning Agency hearing at the expense of the applicant, as the Village Council or Village Manager may deem proper for the circumstances involved for a particular hearing.

(Ord. No. 217, § 2, 7-29-80; Ord. No. 371, § 3, 4-21-92; Ord. No. 618, § 2, 2-19-19; Ord. No. 2024-656, § 2, 2-20-24)

The Council is advised that the purpose of zoning and zoning regulations is to provide a plan and design to lessen the congestion in the highways; to secure safety from fire, panic and other dangers; to promote health, safety, morals, convenience and the general welfare; to provide adequate light and air; to prevent the overcrowding of land and water; to avoid undue concentration of population; to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks and other public requirements, with the view of giving reasonable consideration, among other things, to the character of the district or area and its peculiar suitability for particular uses and with a view to conserving the value of Buildings and Property and encouraging the most appropriate use of land and water throughout the Village.

(a)

Business District. The Village Council, following a public hearing, may grant a nonuse variance upon a showing by the applicant that the variance maintains the basic intent and purpose of the zoning and other land use regulations as set forth in this section. In considering an application for variance, the Village Council shall affirmatively determine whether the application meets all the following criteria:

(1)

The granting of the variance must be compatible with the surrounding land uses and not be detrimental to the community as a whole.

(2)

The granting of the variance must do substantial justice to the applicant as well as other Property Owners in the district.

(3)

The variance can be granted in such fashion that the spirit of this chapter will be observed and public safety and welfare secured, without tending to create fire or other equally or more dangerous hazard or provoke excessive overcrowding or concentration of people or population.

(4)

Compliance with the strict letter of the regulations will result in a practical difficulty so as to prevent the Owner from using the Property for a permitted purpose or render compliance unreasonably burdensome.

(b)

All other Zoning Districts.

(1)

In specific cases where the literal and strict enforcement of the applicable provisions of these zoning regulations, or other regulations or provisions of this Code, would result in undue or unnecessary hardship, the Village Council, following a public hearing, may grant a petition for a nonuse variance from said regulations as will provide substantial justice and not be contrary to the public interest reflected in said regulations, provided the Council makes the following findings:

a.

The subject property has special conditions, not applying generally to other neighboring properties in the same zoning district, which occasion the necessity for the petitioned variance.

b.

The development resulting from the granting of such variance shall be in harmony with the policies embodied within the Village Comprehensive Plan.

c.

The granting of such variance shall be consistent with the general purpose and intent of the applicable zoning district regulations governing the property on which approval is granted.

d.

The granting of such variance shall not adversely affect the use or development of neighboring properties in accordance with the applicable zoning district regulations nor hinder or discourage appropriate development and use of adjacent or nearby land and/or buildings or impair the value thereof.

e.

That the literal and strict enforcement of the applicable provisions of the zoning regulations or other provisions of the Code of Bal Harbour Village, would result in undue or unnecessary hardship to the applicant.

f.

That the granting of the requested variance will provide substantial justice and not be contrary to the public interest as reflected in the applicable regulations.

g.

That the need for the variance does not arise from conditions which are personal to the owner but instead relate to the uniqueness of the property.

h.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to submit evidence that addresses the above criteria.

(2)

The Council may require appropriate conditions, stipulations and safeguards as conditions of granting any variance. A violation of these conditions, stipulations and safeguards shall be deemed a violation of this Code.

(3)

A variance of the use or density provisions of these Zoning Regulations is prohibited.

(4)

Since variances run with the land and are not personal to the owner of the subject property, conditions personal to said owner and not relating to the uniqueness of the subject property, shall not be a valid basis for a variance. Further, the lack of objections from surrounding property owners, while persuasive, should be judged in light of the fact that all future surrounding property will be subject to the effects of the permitted variance.

(Ord. No. 217, § 3, 7-29-80; Ord. No. 439, § 1, 4-20-99)

(a)

In granting any application for nonuse variance or in any developmental approval granted after a public hearing, the Village Council may prescribe any reasonable conditions, restrictions and limitations it deems desirable or necessary in order to maintain the integrity of the zoning district and the compatibility of the Property therewith in relation to the present and future development of the area concerned.

(b)

In addition, all nonuse variances granted by the Village Council shall automatically expire 12 months after the date of approval unless all required building permits have been issued and construction has begun in accordance with the plans based upon which the nonuse variance was granted. The Village Council may grant extension of up to 12 months beyond the expiration date if the Property Owner has made a proper application for extension prior to the expiration of the nonuse variance.

(Ord. No. 217, § 4, 7-29-80; Ord. No. 315, § 1, 1-19-88; Ord. No. 371, § 4, 4-21-92)

Cross reference— During a building moratorium no applications for variances, special exceptions, zoning district changes, etc., shall be acted upon, § 6-63.

All actions taken by the Village Council pursuant to this division shall be by majority vote and resolution. In case, however, of a protest against such application by the Owners of record of 20 percent or more, either of any area of Lots included in such proposed change, or those immediately adjacent in the rear thereof extending 375 feet therefrom, or those directly opposite thereto extending 375 feet from the street frontage of such opposite Lot, such amendment shall not become effective except by the favorable vote of four-fifths of all members of the Village Council.

(Ord. No. 217, § 5, 7-29-80)

The following extraordinary measures, to ensure greater public scrutiny and deliberation, shall be followed whenever the Village Council proposes to amend the Village Code or take other action that increases the height limit in any zoning district in the Village:

(1)

A discussion item must be placed on an agenda of a regular Village Council meeting prior to starting the statutory notice and adoption process for such proposal, and the discussion item must include public comment;

(2)

The Local Planning Agency (LPA) public hearing for such a proposal must be held before the first reading by the Village Council; and

(3)

A supermajority of the Village Council (⅘ vote) is required to approve both first and second readings of any such legislation or action.

(Ord. No. 2025-0667, § 3, 4-29-25)