Franklin City Zoning Code
BOARD OF
ADJUSTMENT
§ 152.070 ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT AND QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS.
A Board of Adjustment is hereby established. Said Board shall consist of seven members; five members of the Board shall be residents of the Town of Franklin and shall be appointed by the Town Council and two members shall reside in the town’s area of extraterritorial jurisdiction and shall be appointed by the Board of Commissioners of Macon County.
(A) Terms. Terms shall be three years; however, the Board of Aldermen and the Macon County Board of Commissioners may appoint members for a lesser term in order to achieve a balanced system of overlapping terms. Any vacancy in the membership shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the initial appointment. Members shall serve without pay but may be reimbursed for any expenses incurred while representing the Board.
(B) ETJ members. The two members appointed to the Board of Adjustment by the Board of County Commissioners as representatives of the Franklin Area of Extraterritorial Jurisdiction shall have equal rights, privileges and duties with other members of the Board in all matters pertaining to the regulation of this chapter in the town and its extraterritorial jurisdiction.
(C) Alternates. The Town Council or the County Board of Commissioners, as appropriate, may appoint alternate members to serve on the Board in the absence of any regular members. Alternate members shall be appointed for the same term and in the same manner as regular members. Each alternate member, while attending any regular or special meeting of the Board and serving in the absence of any regular member, shall have and may exercise all the powers and duties of a regular member.
(Ord. passed 10-1-07; Am. Ord. passed 2-3-14; Am. Ord. passed - - )
§ 152.071 POWERS OF THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT.
The Board of Adjustment shall have the following powers:
(A) To hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision or determination made by any administrative official charged with the enforcement of this chapter.
(B) To hear and decide requests for variances from the dimensional requirements of this chapter.
(C) To make interpretations of the Official Zoning Map and to pass upon disputed questions of lot lines or district boundary lines and similar questions as arise in the administration of this chapter.
(D) To enter, at reasonable times, upon private lands and make examinations or surveys as necessary for the performance of its official duties.
(E)
To request the Town Council to hold public hearings on matters within the purview of the Board.
(F) To hear and decide any other matter as required by the provisions of this chapter and the Code of the Town of Franklin.
(G) To adopt rules not inconsistent with this chapter or the North Carolina General Statutes governing the organization of the Board and proceedings before the Board.
(Ord. passed 10-1-07; Am. Ord. passed 2-3-14; Am. Ord. passed - - )
§ 152.072 OFFICERS.
The Board shall elect one member to serve as Chair and preside over its meetings and shall create and fill such offices and committees as it may deem necessary. The term of the Chair and other offices shall be one year with eligibility for re-election. The Chair, or any member temporarily acting as chair, is authorized to administer oaths to any witnesses in any matter coming before the Board.
(Ord. passed 10-1-07; Am. Ord. passed 2-3-14)
§ 152.073 MEETINGS.
(A) The Board shall establish a regular meeting schedule and shall meet frequently enough so that it may take action as expeditiously as reasonably possible. All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public, and reasonable notice of the time and place thereof shall be given to the public in accordance with the North Carolina General Statutes. The Board shall keep a record of its meetings, including attendance of its members, the vote of each member on every question, a complete summary of the evidence submitted to it, documents submitted to it, and all official actions.
(B)
Any member of the Board who misses more than three consecutive regular meetings or more than half the regular meetings in a calendar year shall lose his or her status as a member of the Board and shall be replaced or reappointed by the Town Council or the County Board of Commissioners, as appropriate. Absence due to sickness, death, or other emergencies of like nature shall be recognized as excused absences, and shall not affect the member’s status on the Board, except that in the event of a long illness or other such cause for prolonged absence, the member shall be replaced.
(Ord. passed 10-1-07; Am. Ord. passed 10-20-08; Am. Ord. passed 2-3-14; Am. Ord. passed - - )
§ 152.074 QUORUM AND VOTING.
A quorum of the Board to hear and decide variances shall consist of four fifths of the Board’s membership who are eligible to vote on the matter, or who have recused themselves and been replaced by an available alternate. In all other cases, quorum for a hearing by the Board of Adjustment shall, be four, and a majority of the members shall be required to decide any other quasi-judicial matter or determine an appeal made in the nature of certiorari.
(Ord. passed 10-1-07; Am. Ord. passed 2-3-14)
§ 152.075 APPEALS OF ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS.
The Board of Adjustment shall hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision or determination made by an administrative official charged with the enforcement of this chapter. An appeal may be taken by any person having standing pursuant to G.S. § 160A-393(d), or by an officer, department or board of the town. Such appeal shall be taken within 30 days of the rendition of such decision by filing with the administrative official a written notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof. The administrative official shall forthwith transmit to the Board, as well as the appellant and property owner (if property owner is not appellant) all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken. An appeal stays all legal proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the Administrative Officer certifies to the Board of Adjustment, after the notice of appeal has been filed with him or her, that because of facts stated in the certificate a stay would, in his or her opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property or that because the violation charged is transitory in nature, a stay would seriously interfere with enforcement of this chapter. In such case proceedings shall not be stayed except by a restraining order, which may be granted by the Board or by a court of record on application, as provided for in the North Carolina General Statutes. If enforcement proceedings are not stayed, the appellant may file with the Administrative Official a request for an expedited hearing of the appeal, and the Board of Adjustment shall meet to hear the appeal within 15 days.
(Ord. passed 10-1-07; Am. Ord. passed 2-3-14)
§ 152.076 VARIANCES.
(A) A variance is a means whereby the town may grant relief from the effect of this chapter in cases of hardship. A variance constitutes permission to depart from the literal requirements of this chapter. A variance from the dimensional requirements of this chapter may be granted by the Board of Adjustment if it finds the following:
(1) Unnecessary hardship would result from the strict application of the ordinance. It shall not be necessary to demonstrate that, in the absence of the variance, no reasonable use can be made of the property.
(2) The hardship results from conditions that are peculiar to the property, such as location, size, or topography. Hardship resulting from personal circumstances, as well as hardships resulting from conditions that are common to the neighborhood or the general public, may not be the basis for granting a variance.
(3) The hardship did not result from actions taken by the applicant or the property owner. The act of purchasing property with the knowledge that circumstances exist that may justify the granting of a variance shall not be regarded as a self created hardship.
(4) The requested variance is consistent with the spirit, purpose and intent of the ordinance, such that public safety is secured and substantial justice is achieved.
(B) The Board of Adjustment shall not have authority to grant a variance when to do so would (1) result in the extension of a nonconformity regulated pursuant to §§ 152.150 - 152.154, herein, or ( 2) permit a use of land, building or structure which is not permitted within the applicable zoning district classification. Appropriate conditions may be imposed on any variance, provided that the conditions are reasonably related to the variance.
(Ord. passed 10-1-07; Am. Ord. passed 2-3-14)
§ 152.077 PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS BEFORE THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT.
(A) An application to the Board of Adjustment pursuant to the terms of this subchapter, whether it be in the nature of a request for a variance or an appeal from an administrative determination, must be received by the Land Use Administrator at least 30 days prior to the date of a Board of Adjustment meeting in order to be scheduled for such meeting.
(B) Notice of hearing. Notice of hearings shall be mailed to the person or entity whose appeal, application or request is the subject of the hearing; to the owner of the property that is the subject of the hearing if the owner did not initiate the hearing; to the owners of all parcels of land abutting the parcel of land that is the subject of the hearing. The notice must be deposited in the mail at least ten days, but not more than 25 days, prior to the date of the hearing.
(Ord. passed 10-1-07; Am. Ord. passed 2-3-14)
§ 152.078 JUDICIAL REVIEW.
Every decision of the Board of Adjustment may be appealed to the Superior Court by any aggrieved party. Such appeal shall be in the nature of certiorari and must be filed within 30 days after the filing of the decision in the office of the Land Use Administrator or after a written a copy thereof is delivered to every aggrieved party who has filed a written request for such copy with the chairman of the Board at the time of its hearing of the case, whichever is later. The copy of the decision of the Board shall be delivered by personal delivery, electronic mail, or by first-class mail to the applicant, property owner, and to any person who has submitted a written request for copy, prior to the date the decision becomes effective.
(Ord. passed 10-1-07; Am. Ord. passed 2-3-14)
§ 152.079 PLANNING BOARD.
The Town Council has created a Planning Board pursuant to G.S. § 160A-361. The Board of Adjustment, as the same is created pursuant to § 152.070 of this chapter, is hereby appointed to be the town’s Planning Board, to perform the duties of such planning board as the same are established by law and as are assigned by the Town Council from time to time.
(Ord. passed 8-6-12; Am. Ord. passed 2-3-14; Am. Ord. passed - - )