Guadalupe City Zoning Code
ADMINISTRATION
§ 154.015 REPEAL, VALIDITY, AND APPLICATION.
(A) Repeal. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with this chapter are hereby repealed.
(B) Validity. Should any section or provision of this chapter be decided by the courts to be unconstitutional or invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the chapter as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so decided to be unconstitutional or invalid.
(C) Application. The repeal of the ordinance or parts thereof by this chapter shall not:
(1) Affect suits pending or rights existing immediately prior to the effective day of this chapter;
(2) Impair, avoid, or affect any grant or conveyance made or right acquired or cause of action now existing under any such repealed ordinance or amendment thereto; or
(3) Affect or impair the validity of any bond or other obligation issued or sold in constituting a valid obligation of the issuing authority immediately prior to the effective date of this chapter.
(Zoning Code, Art. I Part II)
§ 154.016 POWERS, DUTIES, ENFORCEMENT, INTERPRETATION, AND CONFLICT.
(A) It shall be the duty of the Town Council to hold public hearings when necessary and make recommendations to the Town Council on all matters concerning or relating to the town’s comprehensive plan, the creation of zoning districts, the boundaries thereof, the appropriate regulations to be enforced therein, the amendment of this chapter, and the relationship of development to the surrounding environment and the community.
(B) The Town Council shall have the power to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove all applications for site plan review consistent with this chapter. Upon hearing an application, it may impose such reasonable conditions as it may deem necessary in order to fully carry out the provisions and intent of this chapter. Prior to the development, construction, remodel, change, or alteration of any proposed or existing project within a zoning district subject to approval of the Council.
(C) The Town Council shall have the power and jurisdiction to hear appeals taken to it by persons aggrieved or affected by a decision of an administrative official charged with the enforcement of this chapter within 30 days by filing a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof. The officer from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit all papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken. Said appeal shall be filed on a form provided by the Zoning Administration.
(D) This chapter shall be enforced by the Zoning Administration of the town or its authorized representative.
(E) In its interpretation and application, the provisions of this chapter will be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, and general welfare of its citizens.
(F) The provisions of this chapter are not intended to interfere with or abrogate or annul any ordinance, rule, regulation, or permit previously adopted or issued and not in conflict with any provision of this chapter or which shall be adopted or issued pursuant to law related to the use of building or ordinance not in conflict with this chapter; nor is it intended by this chapter to interfere with or abrogate or annul an easement, covenant, or other agreement between parties, except when this chapter imposes a greater restriction, this chapter shall prevail.
(Zoning Code, Art. I Part II)
§ 154.017 INJUNCTION.
(A) If any building or structure is constructed, reconstructed, altered, repaired, converted, or maintained, or any building, structure, or land is used in violation of this chapter, the town or any owner or tenant of real property in the same contiguous zoning district as the building or structure in question, in addition to other remedies, may institute any appropriate action or proceedings:
(1) To prevent the unlawful construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, conversion, maintenance, or use;
(2) To prevent the occupancy of the building, structure, or land;
(3) To prevent any illegal act, conduct, business, or use in or about the premises; or
(4) To restrain, correct, or abate the violation.
(B) When any such action is instituted by an owner or tenant, notice of such action shall be served upon the municipality at the time suit is begun by serving a copy of the complaint on the Town Manager/Clerk.
(C) In any such action or proceeding, the court with jurisdiction thereof has the power and in its discretion may issue a restraining order, or a preliminary injunction, as well as a permanent injunction, upon such terms and under such conditions as will do justice and enforce the purpose of this chapter.
(Zoning Code, Art. I Part II)
§ 154.018 NONCONFORMING USES AND BUILDINGS.
(A) The lawful use of a building or land existing at the time of the passage of this chapter, although such use does not conform to the provisions hereof for said land, may be continued, but if such nonconforming use is discontinued for a period of six months, it is then declared abandoned, and any future use of said building or land shall be in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.
(B) (1) The lawful use of a building or land existing at the time of the passage of this chapter may be continued, although such use does not conform with the provisions of this chapter for such building or land, and such use may be continued provided only reasonable repairs and alterations are made.
(2) A nonconforming use of a building or land may not be changed to another nonconforming use.
(3) Whenever a nonconforming use of a building or land has been changed to a conforming use, such use shall not thereafter be changed to a nonconforming use.
(C) An existing building or land designed, arranged, or intended for or devoted to a use not permitted under the regulations of this chapter for the district in which such building or land is located shall not be enlarged, extended, reconstructed, or structurally altered unless such building and such enlargement, extension, reconstruction, structural alterations, and further use thereof conform in every respect with the regulations specified by this chapter for such district in which said building or land is located. Nothing herein shall prohibit any reasonable repairs or alterations in a building or land used for such existing purposes.
(D) If at any time any building or land in existence or maintained at the time of the adoption of this chapter, which does not conform to the regulations for the district in which it is located, shall be destroyed by fire or other cause to the extent of 50% of its remaining value as determined by three competent appraisers, then and without further action by the Council the said building and the land on which said building was located or maintained shall from and after the date of such destruction be subject to all the regulations specified by this chapter for the district in which such land and building are located.
(E) Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted as authorization for or approval of the continuance of the use of a building or land in violation of zoning regulations in effect at the time of the effective date of this chapter.
(Zoning Code, Art. I Part II)
§ 154.019 CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS.
(A) Conditional use permits which may be revokable, conditional, or valid for a term period, may be granted only when expressly permitted in the zoning district herein specified by this chapter and only after the Town Council has filed, in writing, that the granting of such conditional use permit will not be materially detrimental to the public health, safety, and welfare and that the characteristics of the use proposed in such conditional use permits are compatible with the types of uses permitted in the surrounding area.
(B) The burden of proof satisfying these requirements shall rest with the applicant.
(C) In the case where a use permit is conditional upon a time schedule of development, if the property has not been developed within one year or on a schedule agreed upon by the Town Council, the conditional use application shall cease. Any request for an extension to these conditions shall be considered as a new application.
(Zoning Code, Art. I Part II)