Granby City Zoning Code

The Board of Trustees of the Town of Granby shall appoint by majority consent a five-member board of zoning adjustment, the members of which shall be residents of the Town of Granby. The terms of office of the members of the board of zoning adjustment shall be for a period of four years. Upon expiration of a member’s term, the Board of Trustees may reappoint such member or appoint a new member by majority consent. When a vacancy is created the Board of Trustees of the Town of Granby shall fill such vacancy by majority consent and such member shall serve the unexpired term of his predecessor in office. The secretary to the BZA shall either be one of the members or the town clerk, town manager or a member of the town’s clerical staff. The BZA members shall select, from among themselves, a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and, if so desired, a secretary.

Members of the BZA shall be immediately replaced by the Board of Trustees to fill unexpired terms should the following occur:

To meet at the call of the chairperson, by his/her request or by the request of the building official or town clerk, or by any party wishing to appeal the decision of the same as provided in GMC § 16.20.080.

To adopt any rules necessary to transact the BZA’s business or to expedite its functions or powers so long as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter.

To vote upon the granting of an adjustment to requirements of this title, which vote must require the concurrence of more than one-half of the members of the BZA in order to revise an order of the Director of Community Development or their designee.

To keep minutes and records of votes, submitted documents, exhibits, etc., of the proceedings of each meeting, which shall be filed in the office of the board, which may designate the Director of Community Development or their designee to keep such files, and which shall be of public record.

To permit the public to attend and to be heard at all of its meetings.

To notify in writing the town clerk and the owner involved and the Board of Trustees of all decisions made, resolutions passed, hearings scheduled or permits authorized.

The board shall have all powers granted to it by Section 31-23-307, C.R.S.

The board shall have the power to interpret this chapter, including any uncertainty as to district boundary locations, or meaning of wording, so long as this interpretation is not contrary to the purpose and intent of this chapter.

The board of adjustment may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination appealed from and shall make such order, requirement, decision, or determination as in its opinion ought to be made in the premises and to that end has all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken. Where there are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships in the way of carrying out the strict letter of this title, the board of adjustment has the power, in passing upon appeals, to vary or modify the application of the regulations or provisions of this title relating to the use, construction, or alteration of buildings or structures, or the use of land, so that the spirit of this title is observed, public safety and welfare secured, and substantial justice done. Where feasible, the board of adjustment may vary or modify the application of the regulations for the purpose of considering access to sunlight for solar energy devices.

Application cover sheet and a written narrative describing the variance desired;

Site plan drawing at appropriate and legible scale showing legal parcel description and dimensions, structure and use locations and location or delineation of variance desired on the zone lot;

List of property owners within 300 feet of the application parcel boundary;

The applicant shall provide to the town clerk or their designee proof of posting mailing by the applicant of the notice to the appropriate surface owners, mineral owners and lessees of mineral rights, and owners of land within 300 feet of the parcel property line as their names appear upon the plats and records in the Grand County clerk and recorder’s office, within two business days of the date of mailing of the notice and no later than 15 calendar days before the scheduled date of the BZA hearing;

Development schedule;

Any other information required by the BZA to review the application;

Specified filing fee payment;

Proof of ownership;

Specific plans relevant to the variance;

Specific relief sought relative to the standards listed in Section 16.20.060.

Pre-Application Meeting: The applicant shall attend a Pre-Application Meeting with the Town to review the requirements for the submittal of a request for a variance and discuss issues relevant to the variance request. See Section 16.15.060 for additional details concerning Pre-Application Meetings.

Fees and Reimbursement Agreement: Any applicant requesting a variance shall pay a base fee as established by resolution of the Board of Trustees for the review and processing of the application. In addition, the applicant shall execute a reimbursement agreement with the Town (Section 16.15.060.030).

Completeness Review: The Director of Community Development or their designee shall determine whether the application is complete based on compliance with the submittal requirements herein. Such determination shall be made within 10 calendar days of receipt of the application, at which time the Director of Community Development or their designee shall issue one of the following determinations:

In the event an applicant submits a new or revised variance request after the original application, such submittal shall be considered a new application and the process shall begin anew with the determination of application completeness review. The submittal of a new or revised variance request after the original application shall initiate a re-starting of the calendar of deadlines (for the applicant and for the Town) for the approval process for the variance in accordance with this section of the code.

The Town staff shall issue a memorandum to the BZA recommending an approval or denial of the variance application.

In consultation with the Town Clerk, the BZA shall establish the date of hearing with the BZA for the application to occur no less than 20 calendar days after the date the Town staff issues a unified memorandum to the BZA recommending an approval or denial of the application.

The applicant shall provide to the town clerk or their designee proof of posting mailing by the applicant of the notice to the appropriate surface owners, mineral owners and lessees of mineral rights, and owners of land within 300 feet of the parcel property line as their names appear upon the plats and records in the Grand County clerk and recorder’s office, within two business days of the date of mailing of the notice and no later than 15 calendar days before the scheduled date of the BZA hearing. The applicant shall also post notification signs (provided by the town clerk) on the site and shall provide photo evidence of the posting no later than 15 calendar days before the scheduled date of the BZA hearing.

Any final determination of the BZA shall be reported in writing over the signature of the chair person of such board. The BZA shall notify the Director of Community Development or their designee, and the property owner involved, and the Board of Trustees of all decisions made, resolutions passed, hearings scheduled or permits authorized.

The BZA may grant a variance if all of the following are found to exist:

Under no circumstances shall a variance be granted on the sole basis of personal convenience, profit or special privilege to the applicant.

Under no circumstance shall the BZA grant a variance to allow a use not permissible under the terms of this title in the appropriate zone district.

Variances shall be granted only with respect to specific plans. Unless otherwise specified by the BZA, a variance may be transferred to successive owners prior to construction if no changes are made to the approved plan and shall run with the land after the construction of any authorized structure or structures and only for the life of such structures.

Variances are not appropriate to accommodate the particular limitations, characteristics, habits, or hobbies of the owner or occupants of the property. The fact that a zoning regulation would effectively prevent an owner from engaging in a particular hobby would not justify the granting of a variance to the regulation.

The BZA may condition the granting of a variance on the issuance of a building permit within a specific time period and may require the applicant to pursue completion of the construction with due diligence. If such conditions are not satisfied, the variance shall become null and void.

The BZA may impose any other condition upon the grant of a variance, including, without limitation, those categories of conditions which may be placed upon conditional use permits.

The BZA shall adopt bylaws and rules of procedure that shall be approved by the Board of Trustees.

The BZA shall act in strict accordance with all of the applicable laws of the state of Colorado and the Town of Granby. All appeals to the BZA shall be in writing and on such form as shall be prescribed by it. Every appeal shall indicate what provisions of this chapter are involved, what relief from these provisions is being sought, and the grounds upon which such an appeal is being sought, as required in GMC § 16.20.060. The chairman of the BZA shall then, within 20 days, call a meeting of the BZA for the purpose of review of the requested appeal.

It is the intent of this title that all questions of interpretation and enforcement shall be first presented to the Director of Community Development or their designee and that such questions shall be presented to the BZA only on appeal from the decision of the enforcement office. In some instances specifically stated in these zoning regulations, the BZA is not an appellate body.

Appeals to the BZA concerning interpretation or administration of this title may be taken by any person aggrieved or by any officer or bureau of any government agency affected by any decision of the Director of Community Development or their designee. The Director of Community Development or their designee shall forthwith transmit to the BZA all papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.

An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the Director of Community Development or their designee from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the BZA, after the notice of appeal is filed with the Director of Community Development or their designee, 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 which may be granted by the BZA or by a court of record on application, on notice to the Director of Community Development or their designee from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.

Every decision of the BZA on any case shall be by record resolution indicating the reasons of the BZA for the decision.

The final disposition of any appeal of the enforcement ruling before the BZA shall be in the form of a resolution either affirming, reversing or modifying the ruling. If a resolution fails to receive four votes in favor of the appellant upon appeal or of the applicant for a variation from the zoning regulations, the action will be deemed equivalent to a denial and a resolution denying such application or appeal shall be formally entered upon the record unless there is a member absent at the roll call and unless the vote of each absent member added to those voting for an applicant or appellant would equal four, in which case the matter will be laid over for hearing before the full BZA.

No request to grant a rehearing will be entertained unless new evidence is submitted which could not have been, with due diligence, presented at the previous hearing or at least one year has passed since the previous application or appeal.