Bridgeton City Zoning Code
SECTION 410
180 Board of Adjustment.
[Ord. No. 70-25 §18, 3-18-1970; Ord. No. 70-99, 12-2-1970; Ord. No. 78-82, 7-12-1978; Ord. No. 87-64, 7-15-1987]
A.
Creation And Membership. A Board of Adjustment is hereby established. The word "Board", when used in this Section, shall be construed to mean the Board of Adjustment. The Board shall consist of five (5) members, all of whom shall be freeholders appointed by the Mayor of the City of Bridgeton and approved by the City Council. The term of office of the members of the Board shall be for five (5) years, excepting that the membership of the first (1st) Board appointed shall serve respectively for terms of one (1) for one (1) year; one (1) for two (2) years; one (1) for three (3) years; one (1) for four (4) years; and one (1) for five (5) years. Thereafter, members shall be appointed for terms of five (5) years each. Three (3) alternate members may be appointed by the Mayor and approved by the City Council to serve, on a meeting by meeting rotating basis, in the absence of or disqualification of the regular members. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term only. Members shall be removed for cause by the City Council upon written charges and after hearing.
No member of the Board of Adjustment shall be an employee or a member of any other board, agency, department or Governing Body of the City of Bridgeton.
The Board shall elect its own Chairman and Vice Chairman who shall serve for one (1) year. The Board shall adopt from time to time such rules and regulations as it may deem necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Chapter.
B.
Meetings. Meetings of the Board of Adjustment shall be held at the call of the Chairperson and at such other times as the Board may determine. Such Chairperson, or in his/her absence the Acting Chairperson, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses. All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public. 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 immediately filed in the office of the Board and shall be a public record. All testimony, objections thereto and rulings thereon shall be taken down by a reporter employed by the Board.
C.
Appeals.
1.
Appeals to the Board may be taken by any person aggrieved or by an officer, department, any board, other than the Board of Adjustment, or bureau of the City of Bridgeton affected by any decision of the City Engineer, Building Commissioner, or other official or agency relating to zoning or building. Such appeal shall be taken within a reasonable time, as shall be prescribed by the Board by general rule, by filing with the City Engineer and with the Board a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof. The City Engineer shall forthwith transmit to the Board, all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from is taken.
2.
An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the City Engineer certifies to the Board after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with him that by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his/her opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In such case, proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the Board or by a court of record on good cause shown.
3.
The Board shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal, give not less than five (5) days' public notice of the date, time and place thereof in an official newspaper or a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Bridgeton as well as due notice to the parties in interest, and decide the same within a reasonable time. Upon the hearing, any party may appear in person or by agent or by attorney.
4.
The Board of Adjustment shall give written notice of any decision in any appeal before the Board to each party and to the City Zoning Administrator three (3) days after rendering such decision. The City Zoning Administrator shall present the notice of any such decision to the City Council at the next regular meeting of the Council occurring after the Zoning Administrator shall have received such notice.
D.
Powers And Duties. The Board of Adjustment shall have the following powers and may grant variances only in the following instances and no others:
1.
To hear and decide appeals in which it is alleged there is error of law in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the City Engineer, Building Commissioner, administrative or other official agency in the enforcement of this Chapter;
2.
To permit the reconstruction within twelve (12) months of a non-conforming building which has been damaged by explosion, fire, act of God or public enemy, to the extent of less than sixty percent (60%) of its assessed value, where the Board finds some compelling public necessity requiring a continuance of the non-conforming use, and the primary purpose of continuing the non-conforming use is not to continue a monopoly;
3.
To authorize upon appeal, whenever a property owner can show that a strict application of the terms of this Chapter relating to the use, construction or alteration of buildings or structures or the use of land will impose upon him practical difficulties or unnecessary hardship, such variations of the strict application of the terms of this Chapter as are in harmony with its general intent and purpose but only when the Board is satisfied that a granting of such variation will not merely serve as a convenience to the applicant but will alleviate some demonstrable and unusual hardship or difficulty so great as to warrant a variation from the Comprehensive Plan as established by this Chapter and, at the same time, the surrounding property will be properly protected;
4.
To permit a temporary building for business or industry in any district for a use otherwise excluded from such district, provided the use is incidental to the development of that district; such permit to be for a period of not more than one (1) year;
5.
To permit the enlargement of a building in a business district or in an "M-1" Limited Manufacturing District for a use otherwise excluded from such district, provided such enlargement and use are distinctly incidental and essential to a use permitted in such district, provided such incidental building and its enlargement or use occupy not more than ten percent (10%) of the lot, that not more than ten percent (10%) of the employees of the building or plant are to be engaged therein, and provided that such building or use is not located within fifty (50) feet of any street;
6.
To permit the extension of a district where the boundary line of a district divides a lot in single ownership as shown on record prior to the date of passage of this Chapter;
7.
To permit a front yard, a side yard or a rear yard, less than that required by this Chapter;
8.
To permit a building to exceed the height limit by not more than ten percent (10%) of the height limit established by this Chapter;
9.
To permit the use of a lot less than the area required by this Chapter;
10.
To permit the use of a lot for use otherwise prohibited solely because of the insufficient width of the lot;
11.
To reduce the applicable off-street parking or loading facilities required by not more than one (1) parking space or loading berth or ten percent (10%) of the required number, whichever is greater;
12.
To increase by not more than twenty-five percent (25%) the maximum distance that required parking spaces are permitted to be located from the use served;
13.
To permit the same off-street parking facilities to qualify as a required facility for two (2) or more uses, provided that use of such facility by each user does not take place at the same hours of the same days of the week;
14.
To have all the powers conferred upon Board of Adjustment by the Revised Statutes of Missouri.
E.
Scope Of Authority. In exercising the above powers, the Board may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the 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 official from whom the appeal is taken.
F.
Standards For Variations. The Board of Adjustment shall not vary the regulations of this Chapter, unless it shall make a finding of fact based upon the evidence presented to it in each specific case, showing that all of the following conditions exist:
1.
That the conditions upon which the requested variation is based would result in a particular hardship upon the owner, as distinguished from a mere inconvenience, if the strict letter of the regulations were carried out;
2.
That the conditions upon which the requested variation is based would not be applicable to other property within the same zoning classification;
3.
That the alleged difficulty or hardship has not been created by any person acquiring or holding an interest in the property since the effective date of Ordinance No. 70-25 (March 18, 1970);
4.
That the granting of the variation will not endanger the public safety or be detrimental to the public welfare or substantially injurious to other property or improvements in the neighborhood in which the property is located.
In determining the foregoing, the Board shall consider whether, and to what extent, the proposed variation will impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property, or increase the danger of fire, or diminish or impair property values within the neighborhood. | |
The Board of Adjustment may impose such conditions and restrictions upon the premises benefited by a variation as may be necessary to prevent injurious effects therefrom upon other property in the neighborhood and better to carry out the general intent of this Chapter. |
G.
Automatic Revocation Of Variation. A variation granted by the Board pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall be automatically revoked if it has not been exercised within the period of two (2) consecutive years after the date it was granted, provided however, the Board may, upon application of the landowner made before or after the expiration of such variation, grant a one (1) year extension thereof; and provided further, that no presently effective, previously issued variation shall be automatically revoked hereunder until six (6) months after the effective date of this Subsection (G).
H.
In the event that any application is denied by the Board of Adjustment, a reapplication concerning the same property or site shall not be accepted until six (6) months following the date of final action on the original application has elapsed, unless it can be shown to the satisfaction of the City Engineer or his designated representative that:
[Ord. No. 14-11 §1, 5-7-2014]