The Zoning Board of Adjustments may consist of members of the City Council and shall operate in accordance with the Tex. Local Government Code, secs. 211.008 through 211.011, as amended. The City Council may also choose by a simple majority vote to appoint Zoning Board of Adjustments members.

Each person nominated by the City Council to be a ZBA member must be approved by a simple majority vote of the City Council before being appointed as a member of the Board.

Meetings of the Zoning Board of Adjustments shall be held at the call of the Chairperson or Secretary and at such other times as the ZBA may determine. All meetings of the ZBA shall be open to the public.

When meeting as the Zoning Board of Adjustments, the ZBA cannot function as the City Council. Zoning Board of Adjustments hearings must be separate from City Council hearings.

The Zoning Board of Adjustments shall have the power to make rules, regulations, and bylaws for its own governance, which shall conform with those set forth by the City Council, and such rules, regulations, and bylaws shall be subject to approval by the City Council. Such rules and bylaws shall include, among other items, provisions for the following:

The Board will follow Robert’s Rules of Order, and procedures shall not be in conflict with the laws applicable to the Board on the following.

The Zoning Board of Adjustments may not grant a variance authorizing a use other than those permitted in the district for which the variance is sought, except as provided in sec. 154.067.

The Zoning Board of Adjustments shall have no power to grant or modify conditional use permits authorized under sec. 154.040.

The Zoning Board of Adjustments shall have no power to grant a zoning amendment. In the event that a written request for a zoning amendment is pending before the Planning and Zoning Commission or the City Council, the Zoning Board of Adjustments shall neither hear nor grant any variances with respect to the subject property until final disposition of the zoning amendment. (See Op. Tex. Att’y Gen. No. JM-493 1986.)

The Zoning Board of Adjustments shall not grant a variance for any parcel of property or portion thereof upon which a site plan, construction plat, or final plat, where required, is pending on the agenda of the Commission and, where applicable, by the City Council. All administrative and procedural remedies available to the applicant shall have been exhausted prior to hearing by the Zoning Board of Adjustments.

The Zoning Board of Adjustments may authorize to the owner of record a variance from these regulations when, in its opinion, undue hardship will result from requiring strict compliance. In granting a variance, the Board shall prescribe only conditions that it deems necessary for, or desirable to, the public interest. In making the findings herein below required, the Board shall take into account the nature of the proposed use of the land involved, existing uses of land in the vicinity, the number of persons who will reside or work within the proposed use, and the probable effect such variance will have upon traffic conditions and upon the public health, safety, convenience, and welfare of the community.

Upon written request of the property owner, the Zoning Board of Adjustments may grant special exceptions to the provisions of division (B)(1)(c) above, limited to the following and in accordance with the following standards:

An application for a variance by the Zoning Board of Adjustments shall be made in writing by the owner of record of said property using forms prescribed by the city and shall be accompanied by an application fee, a site plan, and such additional information as may be requested in writing in order to properly review the application. Such information may include, but is not limited to, plat plans, site building plans, photographs, topographic contour maps, and other similar documents. All drawings must be to scale.

The Mayor/City Secretary, Code Enforcement Official, or his or her designee shall visit the site where the proposed variance will apply and the surrounding area, and shall provide a written report of his or her findings to the Zoning Board of Adjustments. Prior to voting on a variance or other authorized land use matter, members of the ZBA should not confer with interested parties or meet with neighborhood opposition members and evaluate the situation outside the public hearing process. In the state the law is clear that members of a ZBA act in a quasi-judicial capacity. Consequently, the ex parte receipt of information or opinions is unfair and may deprive an applicant of due process.

The Zoning Board of Adjustments shall hold a public hearing for consideration of the written variance request no later than 45 days after the date the application for action or an appeal is filed. Notice of the public hearing shall be provided to all property owners within 200 feet of the affected property at least ten days prior to the public hearing and also published in the official local newspaper at least ten days prior to the public hearing. Said written notice shall be sent using the last known address as listed on the most recently approved tax roll and depositing the notice, with first-class postage paid, in the U.S. mail.

The Zoning Board of Adjustments shall not grant a variance unless it finds, based upon evidence, that each of the conditions in sec. 154.067 has been established. The Zoning Board of Adjustments may impose such conditions, limitations, and safeguards as it deems appropriate upon the granting of any variance. Violation of any such condition, limitation, or safeguard shall constitute a violation of this section.

All decisions of the Zoning Board of Adjustments are final and binding. However, any person aggrieved by a decision of the Zoning Board of Adjustments may present a verified petition to a court of record which states that the decision of the Zoning Board of Adjustments is illegal, in whole or in part, and specifying the grounds of the illegality. Such petition must be presented within ten days after the date the decision is filed in the City Secretary’s office. Subject to the provisions of the Tex. Local Government Code, sec. 211.01, only a court of record may reverse, affirm, or modify a decision of the Zoning Board of Adjustments.

The appellant must file with the Zoning Board of Adjustments, and the official from whom the appeal is taken, a written notice of appeal specifying the grounds for the appeal. The appeal must be filed within 60 days after the decision has been rendered. Upon receiving the notice, the official from whom the appeal is taken shall immediately transmit to the Zoning Board of Adjustments all papers constituting the record of action that is appealed. An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action that is appealed, unless the official from whom the appeal is taken certifies in writing to the Zoning Board of Adjustments facts supporting the official’s opinion that a stay would cause imminent peril to life or property. In that case, the proceedings may be stayed only by a restraining order granted by the Zoning Board of Adjustments or a court of record on application, after notice to the official, if due cause is shown. The appellant party may appear at the appeal hearing in person or by agent or attorney. The Zoning Board of Adjustments shall decide the appeal within four weeks after the written request (notice of appeal) was received, after which time the written request shall be deemed automatically approved if no formal action is taken. The Zoning Board of Adjustments may reverse or affirm, in whole or in part, or modify the administrative official’s order, requirement, decision, or determination from which an appeal is taken, and may make the correct order, requirement, decision, or determination.

A member or members of the Zoning Board of Adjustments may not bring an appeal on behalf of a property owner other than himself or herself to the Zoning Board of Adjustments. An appeal must be requested by the owner of the property being considered.