Cortland City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XV
Variances
§ 300-150 Area variances.
A.
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the power, upon an appeal from a decision or determination of the Zoning Officer, to grant area variances. The Zoning Board of Appeals, in making its determination, shall take into consideration the benefit to the applicant if the variance is granted, as weighed against the detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood or community by such grant. In making such determination the Board shall also consider:
(1)
Whether an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood or a detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting of the area variance;
(2)
Whether the benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method feasible for the applicant to pursue, other than an area variance;
(3)
Whether the requested area variance is substantial;
(4)
Whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical environmental conditions in the neighborhood or district; and
(5)
Whether the alleged difficulty was self-created, which consideration shall be relevant to the decision of the Board, but shall not necessarily preclude the granting of the area variance.
B.
In granting an area variance, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall grant the minimum variance that it shall deem necessary and adequate and at the same time preserve and protect the character of the neighborhood and the health and welfare of the community.
§ 300-151 Use variances.
A.
The Zoning Board of Appeals, on appeal from the decision of the Zoning Officer, shall have the power to grant a use variance. No such variance shall be granted without a showing by the applicant that applicable zoning regulations and restrictions have caused unnecessary hardship. In order to prove such aforementioned hardship, the applicant shall demonstrate to the Board for each and every permitted use under the zoning regulations for the particular district where the property is located the following:
(1)
The applicant cannot realize a reasonable return, provided that lack of return is substantial as demonstrated by competent financial evidence;
(2)
The alleged hardship relating to the subject property is unique and does not apply to a substantial portion of the district or neighborhood;
(3)
That the requested use variance, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood; and
(4)
The alleged hardship has not been self-created.
B.
The Zoning Board of Appeals, in granting the use variance, shall grant the minimum variance that it shall deem necessary and adequate to address the unnecessary hardship proven by the applicant, and at the same time preserve and protect the character of the neighborhood and the health, safety and welfare of the community.
§ 300-152 Access ramp variances.
A.
The purpose of this enabling legislation is to accommodate persons with disabilities in need of a ramp to facilitate access to such person's residence. It is recognized that such a disability may or may not be of short duration and that the person resides at a residence which does not have sufficient area at any entranceway to the residence to permit the construction of a ramp without violating yard setbacks. It is hereby intended to allow the construction of such a ramp in violation of setbacks only for the duration of the resident's need and to require the removal of such ramp thereafter.
B.
The Zoning Board of Appeals is hereby granted the authority to vary any front, side or rear yard setback and lot coverage to accommodate the disability of resident upon the following conditions:
(1)
Proof that there is no existing entrance to the residence at which a ramp could be constructed without a variance;
(2)
The length of the ramp to be constructed does not exceed the minimum recognized standard of rise per foot;
(3)
The variance granted must be for an entryway which is the least intrusive to the neighborhood; and therefore, the order of required preference for locations is rear entrance, side entrance, front entrance;
(4)
The ramp must be dismantled and removed within 90 days of the termination of the need for it.
C.
The variance granted pursuant to this section shall not run with the land and shall terminate of the need for it.
§ 300-153 Conditions on variances.
A.
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall, in the granting of either a use variance, an area variance or an access ramp variance, have the authority to impose such reasonable conditions and restrictions as are directly related to and incidental to the proposed use of the property. Such conditions shall be consistent with the spirit and intent of this chapter and shall be imposed for the purpose of minimizing any adverse impact the granting of the variance may have on the neighborhood or community.