Greentown City Zoning Code
SPECIAL USES
AND APPEALS
§ 156.130 ADVISORY BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, MEMBERSHIP AND JURISDICTION.
(A) Generally. There is hereby established the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals, to be known as the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals of the Town of Greentown, Indiana. The Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals is established under the Advisory Plan Law, being I.C. 36-7-4-901, as amended.
(B) Membership. The Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals shall consist of a five-member board appointed as follows:
(1) Three citizen members, appointed by the executive of the town, of whom one must be a member of the Advisory Plan Commission and two must not be members of the Advisory Plan Commission;
(2) One citizen member, appointed by the fiscal body of the town, who is not a member of the Plan Commission; and
(3) One citizen member, appointed by the Advisory Plan Commission, who must be a county agricultural agent or a citizen member of the Advisory Plan Commission but who is not the same member from the Plan Commission appointed by the executive in division (B)(1) above.
(C) Terms of office. Each member except for those appointed from the Advisory Plan Commission shall be appointed for a term of four years, with the positions staggered so that such terms shall not be concurrent. The members appointed from the Advisory Plan Commission shall be appointed for a term of one year. Each term shall expire on the first Monday of the year of termination.
(D) Territorial jurisdiction. The Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals shall have jurisdiction over all of the land subject to the zoning ordinance.
(E) Subject matter jurisdiction. The Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals shall have exclusive jurisdiction for special uses and variances under the statute and this chapter, except that it shall have no jurisdiction to grant a variance from a use district or classification, from appeals as provided by statute, including requirements for the procurement of improvement location permits or any ordinance adopted under I.C. 36-7-4, or from any prior zoning statute and any other appeals authorized by statute.
(F) Staff. The staff of the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals shall consist of the Administrator as defined in this chapter and such other persons employed by the town as the Administrator may direct from time to time to assist the Administrator or the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals.
(Ord. 2002-5, passed 7-2-2002)
§ 156.131 ADVISORY BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, RULES AND PROCEDURES.
(A) Rules and bylaws. The Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals shall have sole authority to adopt any and all rules under I.C. 36-7-4-916 and any and all bylaws concerning organization, selection of officers, forms for applications, filing requirements, other than as to place of filing as herein provided for, procedures and notices for meetings and conduct of meetings. Upon adoption of such rules and bylaws, they shall be applicable to the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals.
(B) Facilities and funding. The town shall provide suitable facilities for the holding of Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals hearings and the storage of its recorded documents and accounts, and in its annual budget shall provide sufficient funds for the functioning of said Board and its staff.
(C) Filing applications. All applications for variances, special uses and requests for appeal shall be filed by the applicant with the staff of the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals.
(D) Hearings. All hearings required for variances, special uses and appeals shall be by the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals. As per division (A) above, the procedures for public notice setting forth the time and place for all hearings by the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals shall be established by the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals.
(Ord. 2002-5, passed 7-2-2002)
§ 156.132 SPECIAL USES.
(A) There shall be no classes of case or application therefor for, nor any particular situation in which this chapter authorizes, either special exceptions, contingent uses or conditional uses.
(B) The Advisory Board may provide a special use in a district if, after a hearing under § 156.131(D) of this chapter, it makes findings of fact in writing:
(1) That § 156.035 of this chapter authorizes that special use in that district;
(2) That the requirements and development standards for the requested special use as prescribed by this chapter will be met; and
(3) That granting the special use will not undermine the general purposes served by this chapter and will not, because of traffic generation, placement of outdoor lighting, noise production or hours of operation, materially and permanently injure other property or uses in the same zoning district and vicinity.
(C) The Advisory Board may impose such reasonable conditions upon its approval as it deems necessary to find that division (B)(3) above will be served.
(D) The Advisory Board may permit or require the owner of the parcel of property to make a written commitment concerning the use or development of the parcel.
(E) The approval of a special use under division (B) above is unnecessary for a use authorized by § 156.035 of this chapter if that use existed on the date that this chapter or pertinent amendments to it were passed. However, this section shall not authorize the expansion of such a use if it involves the enlargement of a building, structure or land area.
(F) A special use approved by the Advisory Board may not be expanded, extended or enlarged unless reapproved by the Advisory Board under the procedures set forth in this subchapter for approving a special use. A special use shall not be transferable upon change of ownership.
(G) A special use approved under division (B) or authorized by division (E) above ceases to be authorized and is void if that use is not established within a 12-month period of the date the special use was approved or if that special use is discontinued at that site for a 12-month period, during which time it is not succeeded by the same specifically-approved special use.
(H) A special use may be terminated by the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals upon the filing of an application therefor by an interested person or the Administrator and upon a finding at a public hearing, with notice to the property owner that the terms of this chapter, the conditions of approval or the commitments have not been compiled with.
(I) The Administrator shall make the determination whether an applicant’s proposed use requires special use approval. Such a determination may involve the expansion, extension or enlargement of a previously-approved use under division (F) above. The Administrator shall file a written report with the Plan Commission stating the facts concerning the proposed use. The Plan Commission shall determine how the granting of the special use would affect the purposes served by this chapter in meeting the goals of the Comprehensive Plan. Within 30 days of the date on which it received the application, the Commission shall report its findings to the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board shall take the appropriate action based on the criteria in division (B) above. If the Advisory Board grants the special use, then it shall direct the applicant to apply for an improvement location permit under §§ 156.145 through 156.154 of this chapter. If such application complies with this chapter and with all other applicable codes and ordinances, then the Administrator shall issue the improvement location permit for the approved special use.
(Ord. 2002-5, passed 7-2-2002)
§ 156.133 VARIANCES.
(A) The Advisory Board may grant a variance from the development standards of this chapter, such as height, bulk or area, if, after a public hearing, it makes a finding of fact in writing that:
(1) The Advisory Plan Commission has determined that the variance application is not for a use variance, that is, a variance from a use district or classification per § 156.130(E) of this chapter;
(2) The approval will not be injurious to the public health, safety, morals and general welfare of the community;
(3) The use and value of the area adjacent to the property included in the variance will not be affected in a substantially adverse manner; and
(4) The strict application of the terms of this chapter is being applied to some condition peculiar to the property involved that is not common to other properties in the same zoning district and will result in an unusual and unnecessary hardship. This situation shall not be solely self-imposed, nor shall it be based on a perceived reduction of or restriction on economic gain.
(B) The Advisory Board may permit or require the owner of a parcel of property to make written commitment concerning the use or development of that parcel or may impose conditions upon that grant of variance.
(C) A variance granted by the Advisory Board shall run with the land until such time as the use of the variance ends or the property conforms with the chapter as written.
(D) Where an owner has failed to comply with any condition or commitment permitted or required by the grant of variance, the Advisory Board may authorize such action as it may deem appropriate to obtain compliance by the owner with the condition or commitment of the grant, or with the terms of this chapter, in the same manner as if the variance had not been granted.
(Ord. 2002-5, passed 7-2-2002)
§ 156.134 APPEALS.
(A) A decision of the Administrator enforcing this chapter may be appealed to the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals by any person who is adversely affected by the decision.
(B) On an appeal under division (A) above, the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals may make any decision that the Administrator might have made.
(C) All appeals from a decision of the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals shall be made pursuant to I.C. 36-7-4-1001 through I.C. 36-7-4-1020. The person aggrieved by a decision of such Board of Zoning Appeals shall present the petition provided for in I.C. 36-7-4-1003 to the court within 30 days after the entry of the decision of the Board of Zoning Appeals.
(Ord. 2002-5, passed 7-2-2002)