Lexington City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XIII
Administration
§ 300-54 Enforcement. [1]
A.
Enforcing officer. The Code Compliance Officer is hereby designated and authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter. He/She may be provided with the assistance of such other persons as the Mayor may direct.
B.
Powers and duties of the enforcing officer. The Code Compliance Officer shall enforce this chapter, and in the furtherance of said authority he/she shall:
(1)
Issue all improvement location permits.
(2)
Issue all certificates of occupancy.
(3)
Conduct such inspections of buildings, structures, and uses of land as are necessary to determine compliance with the terms of this chapter.
(4)
Notify, in writing, any person responsible for violating a provision of this chapter, indicating the nature of the violation and ordering the action necessary to correct it.
(5)
Order discontinuance of illegal use of land, buildings or structures; order removal of illegal buildings, structures, additions, or alterations; order discontinuance of illegal work being done; or take any other action authorized by this chapter to ensure compliance with or to prevent violation of its provisions.
(6)
Maintain permanent and current records of this chapter and all maps and amendments.
(7)
Maintain a current file of all permits, all certificates, and all copies of all notices of violations, discontinuance, or removal for such time as necessary to ensure continuous compliance with the provisions of this chapter and, on request, provide information to any person having a proprietary or tenancy interest in any specific property.
(8)
Provide information relative to this chapter.
§ 300-55 Improvement location permits; certificates of occupancy. [1]
A.
Improvement location permits. No building, structure, certain signs or use of land may hereafter be built or located on platted or unplatted lands unless the structure, improvement, use and its location conform with the Comprehensive Plan and ordinances of the City of Lexington and an improvement location permit for such structure, improvement, or use has been issued. Every application for an improvement location permit shall be accompanied by a site plan, in duplicate, drawn to scale showing actual dimensions of the lot or lots to be built upon, the location and size of the structure, improvement or use to be built, altered or placed, location of required parking and loading areas, size of yards and open spaces, existing and proposed streets and alleys adjoining or within the lot and such other information as may be necessary to provide for the enforcement of these regulations. One copy of all plans shall be returned to the applicant by the Code Compliance Officer, after he/she shall have marked such copy either as "approved" or "disapproved" and attested to same by his/her signature on such copy. The second copy of the plans, similarly marked, shall be retained by the Code Compliance Officer. In relation to farm buildings, the applicant shall not be required to submit drawings, but the applicant shall sign a statement on a form from the Code Compliance Officer indicating that he/she is aware that no building shall be built in front of the setback lines set out in this chapter. An application for an improvement location permit shall be accompanied by a fee as set forth in Chapter 63, Fees.
B.
Certificates of occupancy.
(1)
No land shall be occupied or used and no building hereafter built, reconstructed or structurally altered shall be occupied or used, in whole or in part, for any purpose whatsoever, until a certificate of occupancy has been issued by the Code Compliance Officer stating that the building and use comply with all of the provisions of this chapter applicable to the building or premises or the use in the district in which it is to be located.
(2)
No change in use shall be made in any building or part thereof, now or hereafter built, reconstructed or structurally altered, without a certificate of occupancy having been issued by the Code Compliance Officer, and no such permit shall be issued to make such change unless it is in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.
(3)
The certificate of occupancy shall be applied for coincidentally with the application for an improvement location permit and shall be issued within 10 days after the lawful erection, reconstruction or structural alteration of such building shall have been completed.
§ 300-56 Zoning Board of Appeals.
A.
Authorization, composition, terms, chairperson, vacancies and compensation. A Board of Appeals is hereby authorized to be established. The word "Board," when used in this chapter, shall be construed to mean the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Board shall consist of seven members appointed by the Mayor of the City of Lexington, by and with the consent of the City Council of the City of Lexington. The members of said Board shall serve respectively for the following terms (or until their respective successors are appointed and qualified): one for one year, one for two years, one for three years, one for four years, one for five years, one for six years, and one for seven years, for the first seven appointed; and five years each for those following the first seven appointed. One of the members of the Board shall be designated by the Mayor of the City of Lexington as Chairperson, until his/her successor is appointed. Such Chairperson, or, in his/her absence, the Acting Chairperson, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witness. The Mayor of the City of Lexington shall have the power to remove any member of said Board for cause and after a public hearing. Vacancies upon said Board shall be filled for the unexpired term of the member whose place has become vacant, in the manner herein provided for the appointment of such member. All members of the Board shall serve without compensation.
B.
Meetings. All meetings of the Board of Appeals shall be held at the call of the Chairperson and at such other times as such Board may determine. All hearings of the Board shall be open to the public. The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon every question, or if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact, and shall also keep records of its hearings and other official actions. Findings of fact shall be included in the minutes of each case of a requested variation, specifying the reason for recommending or denying such variation. Every rule or regulation, every amendment or repeal thereof, and every order, requirement, decision or determination of the Board shall be filed immediately in the office of the Code Compliance Officer and shall be public record. The Board shall adopt its own rules of procedure not in conflict with the statutes in such case made and provided.[1]
C.
Appeal and review. An appeal may be taken to the Board of Appeals by any person, firm or corporation, or by an officer, department, board or bureau of the City of Lexington aggrieved by a decision of the Code Compliance Officer. Such appeal shall be taken within 45 days of the action complained of by filing with the Code Compliance Officer and with the Board a notice of appeal, specifying the grounds thereof. The Code Compliance Officer shall forthwith transmit to the Board all of the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.[2]
(1)
An appeal shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of action appealed from unless the Code Compliance Officer certifies to the Board of Appeals after the notice of appeal has been filed with him/her that, by reason of facts stated in the certificate, the stay would, in his/her opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property, in which case the proceedings shall not be stayed, otherwise than by a restraining order, granted by the Board of Appeals or by a court of record on application and on notice to the Code Compliance Officer, and on due cause shown.
(2)
The Board shall select a reasonable time and place for the hearing of the appeal and give due notice thereof to the parties and shall render a decision on the appeal without unreasonable delay. Any person may appear and testify at the hearing, either in person or by duly authorized agent or attorney. A fee as set forth in Chapter 63, Fees, shall be paid to the Code Compliance Officer at the time the notice of appeal is filed, which the Code Compliance Officer shall forthwith pay over to the City Treasurer to the credit of the general revenue fund of the City of Lexington.
D.
Jurisdiction. The Board of Appeals shall have the following powers and it shall be its duty:[3]
(1)
To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error of law in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Code Compliance Officer in the enforcement of this chapter.
(2)
To authorize upon an appeal, in specific cases (see Subsection E), such variation from the terms of this chapter as will not be contrary to the public interest and welfare where, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provisions of this chapter would result in practical difficulties or particular hardship. A variation from the terms of this chapter shall not be granted by the Board until:
(a)
A written application for variation is submitted by the applicant to the secretary of the Board demonstrating:
[1]
That the particular physical surroundings, shape, or topographical condition of the specific property involved would result in a particular hardship upon the owner, as distinguished from a mere inconvenience, if the strict letter of the regulations was carried out;
[2]
That the conditions upon which the requested variation is based would not be applicable, generally, to other property within the same zoning classification;
[3]
That the alleged difficulty or hardship has not resulted from the actions of the applicant;
[4]
That the proposed variation will not impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property, or substantially increase the congestion in the public streets, or increase the danger of fire, or endanger the public safety, or substantially diminish or impair property values within the neighborhood;
[5]
That the proposed variation will not alter the land use characteristics of the district; and
[6]
That the granting of the variation requested will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that is denied by this chapter to other lands, structures or buildings of the same district.
(b)
Notice of public hearing shall be given at least 15 days, but not more than 30 days, in advance by posting notice of such hearing on the subject property in a newspaper of general circulation in Lexington and by notifying by mail the owner of the property or his/her agent.
(c)
The public hearing shall be held.
(d)
The Board shall make findings that each of the above conditions has been met, that the proposed variation is permitted under Subsection E below, that the reasons set forth in the application justify the granting of the variation, and that the variation is the minimum variation that will make possible the reasonable use of the land, building, or structure.
[1]
The Board may impose such conditions and safeguards upon the premises benefited by a variation as may be necessary to prevent injurious effects therefrom upon other property in the neighborhood. Violation of such conditions and safeguards, when made a part of the terms under which the variation is granted, shall be deemed a violation of this chapter and punishable under § 300-59 of this article.
[2]
No variation permitting the erection or alteration of a building shall be valid for a period longer than one year unless the building is built or altered within that period.
(3)
To post or publish notices of public hearings, and to hold such hearings as required by the applicable statutes of the state pertaining to proposed amendments to the regulations imposed and the districts created by this chapter and to proposed special permitted uses as provided in this chapter.[4]
E.
Authorized variations.
[Amended 4-14-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-2]
(1)
Variations from the regulations of this chapter shall be granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals only in accordance with the standards set forth in Subsection D of this section, and may be granted in the following instances only, and in no others:
(a)
To permit the extension of a district to include an entire lot where the boundary line of the district divides a lot of record on the effective date of this chapter, not to exceed an additional 150 feet of street frontage nor increase the area of the district by more than 20,000 square feet.[7]
(b)
To permit any yard of smaller dimension than required by the applicable regulations, not to exceed a twenty-five-percent reduction.
(c)
To permit any building or structure to exceed the height limitation imposed by the applicable regulations, not to exceed a ten-percent increase.
(d)
To permit the use of a lot less in width or area by not more than 10% of the lot width or area required by this chapter.
(e)
To reduce the applicable off-street parking or loading facilities required by not more than two parking spaces nor one loading berth or 20% of the required number, whichever is greater.
(f)
To increase by not more than 25% the maximum distance that required parking spaces are permitted to be located from the use served.
(g)
To permit the same off-street parking facilities to qualify as a required facility for two or more uses, provided the substantial use of such facility by each user does not take place at approximately the same hours of the same days of the week.
(h)
To permit any accessory building in the R-1 Single-Family Residence District to have a maximum area not to exceed 1,200 square feet.
[Added 7-24-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-10]
(2)
Under no circumstances shall the Zoning Board of Appeals grant a variation to allow a use not permissible under the terms of this chapter in the district involved, or any use expressly or by implication prohibited.
[Amended 6-14-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-4]
§ 300-57 Authorized actions.
A.
The Zoning Board of Appeals, on appeal or upon application for a variation after a hearing, shall, in all instances, submit its recommendation to the Lexington City Council for final determination.
[Amended 6-14-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-4]
B.
All decisions and findings of the Zoning Board of Appeals, on appeal or upon application for a variation after a hearing, shall, in all instances, be final administrative determinations and shall be subject to review by court as by law may be provided, including application of the provisions of the Administrative Review Act approved May 8, 1954,[1] as stipulated in 65 ILCS 5/11-13-13, and all amendments and modifications thereof.
[1]
Editors' Note: See 735 ILCS 5/3-101 et seq.
§ 300-58 Complaints regarding violations.
[Amended 6-14-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-4]
Any person may file a complaint whenever a violation of this chapter occurs, or is alleged to have occurred. Such complaint shall be filed in writing with the Code Compliance Officer and shall state fully the causes and basis of the complaint. The Code Compliance Officer shall record such complaint properly, immediately investigate, and take action thereon as provided by this chapter.
§ 300-59 Violations; penalty.
[Amended 6-14-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-4]
Any person, firm or corporation who or which knowingly violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses to comply with or who resists the enforcement of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be fined in an amount not to exceed $750 for each offense. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense.