There is hereby created a zoning board of appeals, which shall consist of five members. The first member of said zoning board of appeals shall be the chairman of the township planning commission; the second member shall be a member of the township board appointed to the zoning board of appeals by said board; and the remaining members shall be appointed by the township board from among the electors residing in the unincorporated area of the township for a term of three years. No elective officer of the township nor any employee of the township board may serve as a member of the zoning board of appeals. The chairman of the township planning commission shall also act as chairman of the zoning board of appeals.

Members of the zoning board of appeals shall be removable by the township board for nonperformance of duty or misconduct in office upon written charges and after a public hearing.

(1)

Rules of procedure. The zoning board of appeals shall adopt its own rules of procedure as may be necessary to conduct its meetings properly.

(2)

Majority vote. The concurring vote of a majority of the members of the zoning board of appeals shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination of the building inspector or to decide in favor of the applicant any matter upon which they are required to pass under this title or to effect any variation in this title.

(3)

Meetings. Meetings shall be open to the public, and shall be held at the call of the chairman and at such other times as the zoning board of appeals shall specify in its rules of procedure. The chairman, or in his absence the acting chairman, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses.

(4)

Records. Minutes shall be recorded of all proceedings which shall contain evidence and data relevant to every case considered together with votes of the members and the final disposition of each case. The grounds of every determination shall be stated, and such determination shall supersede any order or determination from which the appeal is taken. Such minutes shall be filed in the office of the township clerk and shall be a public record. A copy of the decision shall also be sent promptly to the applicant or appellant and to the building inspector.

(5)

Secretary and counsel. The township clerk shall be responsible for acting as secretary, or of providing secretarial services for the zoning board of appeals. The township attorney shall act as legal counsel for the board and shall be present at meetings upon request by the board.

(6)

Hearings. When a notice of appeal has been filed in proper form with the zoning board of appeals, the secretary shall immediately place the said request for appeal upon the calendar for hearing and shall cause notices stating the time, place and purpose of the hearing to be served in accordance with the regular rules of procedure. The zoning board of appeals shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal, give due notice thereof to the parties and allow all interested parties to be heard. Upon the hearing, any party may appear in person or by agent or by attorney.

(7)

Decisions. The zoning board of appeals shall return a decision upon each case within 60 days after a request or appeal has been filed with the board unless additional time is agreed upon with the parties concerned. Any decision of the board shall not become final until the expiration of ten days from the date of entry of such order and service of the same upon the parties concerned unless the board shall find the immediate effect of such order is necessary for the preservation of property or personal rights or public safety and shall so certify on the record.

The decision of such board shall be final, unless any person having an interest affected by any such decision shall, within ten days following the filing of the decision of the township board of appeals with the township clerk, appeal such decision to the circuit court and in case of such appeal the court shall consider the same both as to questions of law and fact.

(1)

Appeals to the board may be taken by any person aggrieved, or by any officer, department, or board of the township.

(2)

Time limit. Any appeal from a ruling of the building inspector concerning the enforcement of the provisions of this title shall be made to the zoning board of appeals through the building inspector within ten days after the date of the building inspector's decision which is the basis of the appeal. Any appeal shall be in writing on standard forms, if available; otherwise by letter stating the grounds for the appeal.

(3)

Duties of building inspector. The building inspector shall transmit to the board all documents, or direct copies thereof, constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.

(4)

Stay. An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the zoning board of appeals, after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with him, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would in his opinion cause eminent peril to life or property, in which case proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the board of appeals or by the circuit court, on application, on notice to the officer from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.

(5)

Fee. Any appeal to the zoning board of appeals shall be accompanied with a payment of a fee in accordance with a schedule of fees adopted by the township board. The purpose of the fee is to cover any necessary advertisement and investigation expenses incurred in connection with the appeal.

The zoning board of appeals shall have the following specified duties and powers:

(1)

Review. Shall hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by the building inspector in the administration of this title.

(2)

Interpretation. Shall have the power to hear and decide upon appeals for the interpretation of the provisions of this title, which shall include the determination of precise location of zone boundaries when there is doubt, classification of a use which is not specifically mentioned along with a comparable permitted or prohibited use in any zone, determine the off-street parking and loading space requirements of any use which is not mentioned in chapter 84.

(3)

Variances. The zoning board of appeals may have the power to authorize upon appeal, the following variance:

a.

Use variance: A use variance authorizes a use of land otherwise prohibited under the zoning ordinance. To obtain a use variance, an applicant must prove to the zoning board of appeals that it will suffer "unnecessary hardship" if variance is denied. The unnecessary hardship must relate to the property for which the variance is sought as follows:

1.

The land in question cannot yield a reasonable return if used only for the purpose allowed in that zone;

2.

The plight of the owner is due to unique circumstances and not the general conditions in the neighborhood; and

3.

The use to be authorized by the variance will not alter the essential character of the locality.

b.

Dimensional variance: A dimensional variance authorizes specific variances from such dimensional requirements as lot area and width regulations, building height regulations, and yard width and depth regulations as specified in this title when all of the basic conditions listed below are satisfied.

Basic conditions: That any variance granted:

a.

Will not be contrary to the public interest and will not be contrary to the spirit and intent of this title;

b.

Will not cause any adverse effect to the property in the vicinity or in the zone or the community;

c.

Is not one where the specific conditions pertaining to the property are so general or recurrent in nature as to make the formulation of a general regulation for such conditions practicable;

d.

Relates only to property that is under control of the applicant;

e.

Affects only property subject to exceptional or extraordinary circumstances or conditions that do not generally apply to other property or uses in the vicinity and have not resulted from any act of the applicant.

Additional rules. In addition to the foregoing conditions, the following rules shall be applied to the granting of variances:

a.

In granting a variance, the board may specify, in writing, to the applicant such conditions in connection with the granting that will, in its judgment, secure substantially the objectives of the regulation or provision to which such variance applies. The breach of such condition shall automatically invalidate the permit granted;

b.

No more than the minimum variance from the terms of this title shall be granted;

c.

Each variance granted shall become null and void unless the provisions of the variance have been utilized by the applicant within one year after granting the variance or from the date of site plan approval;

d.

No application for a variance which has been denied wholly or in part by the board shall be resubmitted for a period of one year from the date of the last denial, except on grounds of newly discovered evidence or proof of changed conditions found upon inspection by the board to be valid;

e.

In authorizing any variance, the zoning board of appeals may require that a bond be furnished to insure compliance with the requirements, specifications and conditions imposed with the granting of the variance.

f.

A use variance may only be applied for after a rezoning has been denied.

g.

A two-thirds roll-call vote of the members appointed and serving on the zoning board of appeals is required to approve a use variance. The roll-call vote shall be entered into the minutes of the zoning board of appeals meeting at which the vote is taken.

(Ord. No. 31.152, § 1, 5-26-98; Ord. No. 31.164, § 1, 4-15-08)