Glendive City Zoning Code
BOARD OF
ADJUSTMENT
§ 155.295 CREATED.
A Board of Adjustment is hereby created for the city.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-1)
Cross-reference:
See also Floodplain Management Board of Adjustment, § 154.28
§ 155.296 MEMBERSHIP; TERM.
The Board shall consist of five members residing within the city. Members shall be appointed by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by the City Council, for terms of office of three years.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-2)
§ 155.297 REMOVAL.
Members of the Board may be removed for cause upon written charges and after public hearing.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-3)
§ 155.298 VACANCIES.
Vacancies shall be filled by the City Council for the unexpired term of the member affected.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-4)
§ 155.299 RULES.
The Board of Adjustment shall adopt rules necessary to the conduct of its affairs and in keeping with this chapter.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-5)
§ 155.300 MEETINGS.
(A) Regular meetings. Meetings of the Board shall be scheduled at a regular time each month and special meetings may also be called by the Chairperson. The Chairperson may cancel the regular monthly meeting if no matters are pending for the Board’s consideration.
(B) Open meetings. All meetings shall be open to the public.
(C) Administration of oaths; compel attendance. The Chairperson, or in his or her absence the acting Chairperson, may administer oaths and compel attendance of witnesses.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-6)
§ 155.301 SECRETARY.
The Board shall designate a secretary of the Board who shall be custodian of all records of the meetings, findings, conclusions and orders of the Board.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-7)
§ 155.302 MINUTES; RECORDS.
The Board shall keep minutes of their proceedings, showing the vote of each member, or if absent or failure to vote indicating such fact, and shall keep records of its examinations and other official actions, all of which shall be a public record and shall be filed in the city office. The official minutes of the Board’s proceedings shall be signed by the Chairperson or acting Chairperson and attested by the recording secretary. The decision of the Board shall become effective immediately unless otherwise directed by the Board.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-8)
§ 155.303 POWERS AND DUTIES.
The Board of Adjustment shall have the following powers and duties:
(A) Administrative review. To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Zoning Coordinator in the enforcement or interpretation of this chapter;
(B) Conditional use (special).
(1) Authority to hear and decide. To hear and decide only such conditional uses as the Board of Adjustment is specifically authorized to pass on by the terms of this chapter; to decide such questions as are involved in determining whether conditional uses should be granted; and to grant conditional uses with such conditions and safeguards as are appropriate under this chapter, or to deny conditional uses when not in harmony with the purpose and intent of this chapter.
(2) Criteria for approval. A conditional use shall not be granted by the Board of Adjustment unless and until the following requirements are met:
(a) Application; required information.
1. A written application for a conditional use is submitted stating the grounds on which it is requested and the following information:
a. A legal and general description of the tract(s) upon which the conditional use is sought;
b. A map showing the dimensions, acreage and location of the tract(s);
c. The names and addresses of the owner(s) of the tract(s) and their agents, if any;
d. A site plan showing major details of the proposed development, including, but not limited to, the location of proposed and existing buildings and structures, off-street parking and loading, service and refuse areas, means of ingress and egress; landscaping, screening, signs and open space areas;
e. A time schedule for development; and
f. Any other information the applicant believes will support his or her request.
2. The application must be submitted at least 20 days prior to the date of the public hearing before whom it is appropriate for the matter to be heard, and be accompanied by payment of all applicable fees.
(b) Notice of hearing. Notice of hearing shall be given at least 14 days in advance of the date set for public hearing. The owner of the property for which conditional use is sought or his or her agent shall be notified by mail. In addition, property owners of record within 150 feet of the exterior boundaries of the property for which a conditional use permit is sought shall be notified. A notice of such hearing shall be posted on the property for which a conditional use permit is sought at least ten days prior to the public hearing.
(c) Public hearing. A public hearing shall be held and any party may appear in person, or by agent or by attorney.
(d) Findings of fact.
1. The Board of Adjustment, before it grants a conditional use permit, shall make findings of fact and state its reasons for granting the conditional use permit, said findings of fact to include:
a. The use will not endanger the public health or safety if located where proposed and developed, and that the use will not allow conditions which will tend to generate nuisance conditions including, but not limited to, noise, dust, glare, odor or vibration;
b. The use meets all required conditions and specifications set forth in the zone where it proposes to locate;
c. The location and character of the use, if developed according to the plan as submitted for approval, will be in harmony with the area in which it is to be located and in general conformity with the comprehensive plan of development of the city and the metropolitan area; and
d. Consult with other departments of the city and the Director of Planning to fully evaluate the impact of the use(s) contemplated under the conditional use application upon public facilities and services.
2. To ensure the establishment of the above conditions, the Board of Adjustment shall have the authority to require and approve specific plans, to increase the requirements set forth above and the requirements specified elsewhere in this chapter, but in no case shall the Board, by conditional use permit, have the authority to decrease the requirements specified in this chapter, or elsewhere in this code. Any such decrease in the requirements of this chapter shall only be granted upon the issuance of a variance permit.
(e) Record of conditions. All conditions required by the Board shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting at which time the permit is granted and shall also be entered on the certificate of the conditional use permit.
(f) Time limitation. The Board of Adjustment shall prescribe a time limit within which the action for which the conditional use permit is required shall be begun or completed, or both. Failure to begin or complete, or both, such action within the time limit set shall void the conditional use permit.
(g) Conditional uses eligible for consideration. The following table of conditional uses shall be eligible for consideration by the Board.
Table of Conditional Uses
|
Table of Conditional Uses
|
All development within the boundaries of airport runway clear zones |
Amusement parks or zoos |
Catering establishments conducted as a home occupation |
Drive-in theaters |
Extractive industries: excavations, gravel and rock |
Garbage, offal and animal reduction or processing |
Go-cart tracks |
Golf driving ranges |
Gun and archery ranges |
Heliports and helistops |
Home occupations as defined |
Hospitals and sanitariums |
Landfills, sanitary, for disposal of stumps, trash and garbage |
Landfills, reclamation to improve steep, low or otherwise unusable land (see extractive industries) |
Mortuaries |
Offices operated as an incidental home occupation |
Public utility service installations |
Slaughterhouses |
Smelting or refining of aluminum, copper, tin, zinc or other light metals |
Temporary buildings or structures |
(C) Variances.
(1) Authority to grant. The Board of Adjustment shall have the authority to grant a variance from the terms of this chapter in specific cases where it is found that the granting of the variance will not be contrary to the public interest and where, because of special existing conditions with respect to the lot shape or topography, a literal enforcement of the provisions of this chapter would result in unnecessary hardship.
(2) Criteria for approval. A variance from the terms of this chapter shall not be granted by the Board unless and until the following requirements are met.
(a) Written application. A written application for a variance is submitted demonstrating:
1. Special conditions and circumstances exist which are peculiar to the land, and the lot, or some such thing inherent in the land that causes the hardship, and which are not applicable to other lands in the same district;
2. Literal interpretation of the provisions of this chapter would deprive the applicant of rights commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same district under the terms of this chapter; or
3. Granting the variance requested will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that is denied by this chapter to other land in the same district.
(b) Required information. The application shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
1. A legal and general description of the tract(s) upon which a variance is sought;
2. The name and address of the owners of the land and their agents, if any;
3. A map showing the location of the property for which application is submitted and its relation to adjoining property; and
4. The reason the variance is being sought.
(c) Filing deadline. The application must be submitted at least 20 days prior to the date of the public hearing.
(d) Fees. The application must be accompanied with payment of all applicable fees.
(e) Notice of hearing. Notice of public hearing shall be given as specified under conditional use applications.
(f) Hearing. At the designated time, the public hearing shall be held. Any party may appear in person, or by agent or by attorney.
(g) Findings. The Board shall make a finding that the granting of the variance will be in harmony with the general purpose and intent of this chapter and with the comprehensive plan of development of the city-county jurisdictional area and its environs.
(h) Additional conditions and safeguards. In granting any variance, the Board may prescribe appropriate conditions and safeguards in conformity with this chapter. Violation of such conditions and safeguards, when made a part of the terms upon which the variance is granted, shall be deemed a violation of this chapter.
(i) Time limitation. The Board shall prescribe a time limit within which the action for which the variance was required shall be begun or completed, or both. Failure to begin or complete, or both, such action within the time limit set shall void the variance.
(j) District use. Under no circumstances shall the Board grant a variance to allow a use not permissible under the terms of this chapter in the district involved. A variance shall not be a grant of special privileges inconsistent with limitations placed upon other property in the district.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-9)
§ 155.304 APPEAL FROM ADMINISTRATIVE DECISION.
(A) Right to appeal. Appeals to the Board of Adjustment concerning interpretation or administration of this chapter may be taken by any person aggrieved or by any officer or department of the city or county affected by any decision of the Zoning Coordinator or building inspector.
(B) Notice of appeal. Such appeals shall be taken within a reasonable time, not to exceed 60 days from the date from which the appeal was taken, by filing with the Zoning Coordinator and building inspector a written notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof. The Zoning Coordinator shall forthwith transmit to the Board all papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.
(C) Notice; hearing. The Board of Adjustment shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of appeal not to exceed 30 days, give public notice thereof as well as due notice to the parties in interest, and render a decision with a reasonable time not to exceed ten days thereafter. At the hearing any party may appear in person or by agent or attorney.
(D) Fees. Each person filing an appeal before the Board of Adjustment as hereinbefore provided shall deposit a sum in the amount set by resolution with the Finance Clerk-Treasurer, which sum shall include a filing fee as specified together with a deposit towards costs incurred in administration of the appeal. Any sums not spent in processing such an appeal shall be returned to the person who initiated the appeal.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-10)
§ 155.305 STAY OF PROCEEDINGS.
An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the administrative official from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the Board after the notice of appeal is filed with him or her, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his or her opinion, cause imminent peril to life and property. In such case, proceedings shall not be stayed other than by a restraining order granted by a court of record.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-11)
§ 155.306 DECISIONS.
(A) In exercising the above mentioned powers, the Board may, so long as such action is in conformity with the terms of this chapter, 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 powers of the administrative official from whom the appeal is taken.
(B) The concurring vote of four members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of the Zoning Coordinator, or to decide in favor of the applicant on any matter upon which it is required to pass under this chapter, or to effect any variation in the application of this chapter.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-12)
§ 155.307 APPEAL FROM BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT.
Any person or any board, taxpayer, department or board of the city aggrieved by any decision of the Board of Adjustment may seek review by the county superior court of the state. Such appeal shall be by certiorari and shall be initiated by serving and filing a petition for the writ within 30 days after the Board’s decision has become final.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-13)
§ 155.308 REHEARING.
If an application for a conditional use, administrative review or variance is denied by the Board of Adjustment, another application shall not be filed within a period of one year from the date of denial, except upon the initiation of the Board of Adjustment after a showing of a change of circumstances which would warrant a rehearing.
(Prior Code, § 11-7-14)