Berlin Town Green Lake County
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VIII
Board of Adjustment
§ 350-60 Personnel; appointment; terms of office; residency requirements [per § 59.694(2), Wis. Stats.].
[Amended 6-20-2006 by Ord. No. 867-06]
A.
The County Board of adjustment shall consist of three members; and shall be appointed by the Chairperson of the County Board with such appointments being approved by the County Board. The term of appointment for each member shall be staggered three years, with a term beginning on July of the appropriate year. The members shall be those serving on the effective date of this chapter, who shall continue in office until the expiration of their term for which they are appointed. The alternate member(s) shall be appointed in the same manner and under the same criteria as the full members.
B.
The Chairperson of the County Board shall appoint, for staggered three-year terms, two alternate members to the Board of Adjustment, who are subject to approval of the County Board. Annually, the Chairperson of the County Board shall designate one of the alternate members as the first alternate and the other as the second alternate. The first alternate shall act, with full power, only when a member of the Board of Adjustment refuses to vote because of conflict of interest or when a member is absent. The second alternate shall act only when the first alternate refuses to vote because of conflict of interest or is absent, or if more than one member of the Board of Adjustment refuses to vote because of a conflict of interest or is absent.
C.
Alternate members shall attend all meetings of the Board of Adjustment and shall fill in for an absent member(s); member(s) having a conflict of interest; in order to form a quorum. Alternates shall serve in the order that they are numbered. When completing a quorum the alternates shall have all power and authority of a member. When present, the alternates shall be paid the same per-diem, mileage, training and reimbursement costs as a member.
D.
Successors to members and alternates shall be appointed at the expiration of each term, and in all cases each term shall be three years beginning on July 1 in the year that they are appointed, or until their successor is appointed.
E.
Vacancies that occur prior to the expiration of a term, for a member or an alternate, shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
F.
Members and alternates of the Board of Adjustment shall reside within the County and outside of the limits of incorporated cities and villages; provided, however, that no two members shall reside in the same town. In addition, in making appointments, the Chairperson of the County Board shall strive for balanced representation, County-wide.
G.
The Board of Adjustment shall elect its own Chairperson. The election of a Board of Adjustment Chairperson shall occur annually at the regular April meeting prior to conducting normal business.
§ 350-61 Meetings; records; general rules.
A.
The Board shall meet at the call of the Chairperson, or at such other times as the Board may determine, at a fixed time and place.
[Amended 3-19-2019 by Ord. No. 2-2019]
B.
All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public.
C.
The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings showing the vote of each member upon each question or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact and shall keep records of its examinations and other official actions, all of which shall be a public record.
D.
Whenever the Board of Adjustment shall have under consideration an appeal, such Board shall give notice to the members of the town board of the town affected by such appeal, and the members of such town board shall be requested to meet with said Board of Adjustment and have the opportunity of making such recommendations as they deem proper.[1]
E.
Meetings of the Board shall be conducted in accordance with the above rules and such other rules as may be adopted by the County Board pursuant to § 59.694(3), Wis. Stats.
F.
In the case of all appeals, the Board of Adjustment shall call upon the County Land Use Planning and Zoning Department for all information pertinent to the decision appealed from.
G.
An application for a specific variance may be filed and held only two times in any given twelve-month period.
H.
Should a change in circumstances occur within said twelve-month period which, in the applicant's opinion, changes the character of the application, then the applicant shall, in that event, submit a request for an additional hearing, outlining the changes in circumstances that have occurred. The Board shall review the request of the applicant and, if in the opinion of the majority of the Board, there is sufficient change in said circumstances to warrant a hearing, the Land Use Planning and Zoning Department shall schedule said hearing under the normal rules of procedure of the Board.
[Amended 11-14-2017 by Ord. No. 22-2017]
I.
No variance approval shall be valid for a period longer than 12 months unless a land use permit for such order is obtained within such period and such activity is started and proceeds to completion in accordance with the terms of such permit.
§ 350-62 Appeal procedure.
A.
Appeals to the Board of Adjustment may be taken by any person aggrieved or by any officer, department, board or bureau of Green Lake County affected by any decision, order or ruling of the Land Use Planning and Zoning Department. Such appeal shall be taken within 30 days, as provided by the rules of the Board of Adjustment, by filing with the Land Use Planning and Zoning Department a notice of appeal, on forms provided by the Department, specifying the grounds thereof.
[Amended 11-14-2017 by Ord. No. 22-2017]
B.
An appeal shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from unless the Land Use Planning and Zoning Department shall certify to the Board of Adjustment, after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with the Land Use Planning and Zoning Department, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate a stay would cause imminent peril to life or property. In such case, the proceedings shall not be stayed other than by a restraining order, which may be granted by the Board of Adjustment or by a court of record on application or notice to the Land Use Planning and Zoning Department and on due cause shown.
[Amended 11-14-2017 by Ord. No. 22-2017]
§ 350-63 Powers and duties.
A.
Except as specifically provided, no action of the Board of Adjustment shall have the effect of permitting in any district uses prohibited in such district.
B.
The Board of Adjustment shall have the following powers:
(1)
To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the administrative officer.
(2)
To authorize, upon appeal in specific cases, area variances where the property owner can prove "unnecessary hardship" by demonstrating that strict compliance with the zoning ordinance would unreasonably prevent the property owner from using their property for a permitted purpose (unnecessarily burdensome) or, for a use variance, by demonstrating that strict compliance with the zoning ordinance would leave the property owner with no reasonable use of their property in the absence of a use variance. In both circumstances, the property owner bears the burden of proving that the unnecessary hardship is based on conditions unique to the property, rather than considerations personal to the property owner, that the unnecessary hardship is not solely economic, and that the unnecessary hardship was not self-created by the property owner.
[Amended 3-19-2019 by Ord. No. 2-2019]
(3)
In every case where a variance from these regulations has been granted by the Board, the minutes of the Board shall affirmatively show that an unnecessary hardship or practical difficulty exists and the records of the Board shall clearly show in what particular and specific respects an unnecessary hardship or practical difficulty is created.
[Amended 3-19-2019 by Ord. No. 2-2019]
(4)
The Board of Adjustment may reverse or affirm, wholly or in part, or may modify any order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from and may make such order, requirement, decision or determination as ought to be made and to that end shall have all the powers of the administrative officer. The concurring vote of two members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from, or to decide in favor of the applicant on any matter on which it is required to pass, or to effect any variation in the requirements of this chapter.[1]
C.
The Board of Adjustment shall interpret the provisions of this chapter in such a way as to carry out the intent and purpose of the plan as shown on the District Map accompanying and made a part of this chapter.
D.
The Board of Adjustment shall have the power to call on any other County department for assistance in the performance of its duties, and it shall be the duty of such other departments to render such assistance as may be reasonably required.
E.
In exercising the foregoing powers, the Board of Adjustment may in appropriate cases establish suitable conditions and safeguards in harmony with the general purpose and intent of this chapter.