14.01.01.

The Board heretofore established is continued and is appointed as provided in § 11-52-80 of The Code of Alabama, 1975, as amended. No member of the Board may vote upon any matter in which he or she, a spouse or a dependent has a direct interest. No member of the Board may vote upon any matter involving a business with which he or she, a spouse or dependent has any interest or ownership. The Board has the following powers and duties:

14.01.02.

Powers.

A.

The Board hears and decides appeals from decisions of the Director. See Section 14.02, Administrative Appeals.

B.

The Board hears and decides all petitions for variances. See Section 14.03, Variances.

C.

The Board hears and decides all petitions for special exceptions. See Section 14.04, Special Exceptions.

(Ord. No. 2249, (Att.), 12-16-24)

Appeals to the Board may be taken by any person aggrieved or affected by any decision or order issued by the Director in enforcing the provisions of this Ordinance.

14.02.01.

General Rules and Procedures.

A.

Any appeals from the rulings concerning the enforcement and interpretation of this Ordinance must be filed with the Director within 15 days after the date of said ruling. All appeals must be in writing on forms prescribed by the Board and accompanied by fees prescribed by the Council along with any additional information requested by the staff.

B.

All appeals and applications must refer to the specific provisions of this Ordinance involved and the grounds for the appeal.

C.

The Board will select a reasonable time and place for hearing the appeal, give due notice to the parties involved and render a written decision on the appeal without unreasonable delay. The Board may affirm, reserve, wholly or in part, or modify the order, requirement or determination, and to that end has all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken. The Planning and Inspections Department maintains complete records of all appeal actions of the Board.

D.

Within ten days after the close of a public hearing on the appeal, the Board will render a written decision giving the reason for its decision.

E.

In rendering a decision on an administrative appeal, the Board strictly interprets the language of the Ordinance and must find that the official was correct in their decision or in error. Should the Board find that the interpretation, decision or action was in error, they must provide the correct interpretation, decision or action. The Board may not render a decision that confers rights or privileges on the appellant that are not otherwise permissible under the strict interpretation of the language of this Ordinance.

F.

Board decisions are submitted to the appellant and the Director.

(Ord. No. 2249, (Att.), 12-16-24)

14.03.01.

Purpose. The purpose of this Section is to empower the Board to vary or adapt the strict application of any of the requirements of this Ordinance, where, by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness, or shape; or by reason of other exceptional conditions on a piece of property, the strict application of any regulation of this Ordinance would result in peculiar, exceptional, and undue hardship on the owner's use of such property.

14.03.02.

Procedure.

A.

Any property owner may apply to the Board for a variance on forms obtained from the Department. Applications must be submitted by noon on the date of the applicable deadline for the meeting at which it is to be heard. All required fees and any other information requested by the Director must be submitted along with the completed application.

B.

Those developments requiring a variance in conjunction with site plan review must have the variance approved prior to approval of the site plan. This includes existing development sites proposed for expansion or reconfiguration that are nonconforming to any requirement of this Ordinance. The site plan may be reviewed concurrently with review of the variance request, but the site plan may not be approved until the variance has been approved.

C.

Public Hearing. Upon application, the Board will schedule a public hearing on the proposed variance to be held after public notice has been provided, as required by law. Within ten days after the close of the public hearing on a variance, the Board renders a written decision, setting forth its findings of fact and the reasons for such decision. All such decisions are final and binding on all parties.

14.03.03.

Standards for Variances.

A.

The Board will grant no variance unless it finds that the following standards are satisfied. It is the intent of this Ordinance that the variance be used only to overcome some exceptional physical condition of a parcel of land which poses practical difficulty to its development and prevents its owner from using the property as intended by this Ordinance.

B.

The applicant must prove that the variance will not be contrary to the public interest and that practical difficulty and unnecessary hardship will result if it is not granted. In particular, the applicant must establish and substantiate in writing that the requested variance conforms to all standards listed below:

1.

The granting of the variance will be in harmony with the general purpose of the regulations imposed in the applicable district and will not be injurious to the neighborhood or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare.

2.

The granting of the variance will not permit the establishment of any use that is not permitted in the district.

3.

There must be proof of unique circumstances. There must exist special circumstances fully described in the findings, applicable to the land or buildings for which the variance is sought, which circumstances or conditions are peculiar to such land or buildings and do not apply generally to land or buildings in the district, and which circumstances are such that the strict application of the provisions of this Ordinance would deprive the applicant of the reasonable use of such land or building.

4.

There must be proof of unnecessary hardship. It is not sufficient proof of hardship to show that greater profit would result if the variance were granted. Furthermore, the hardship complained of cannot be self-created; nor can it be established on this basis by one who purchases with or without knowledge of the restrictions. It must result from the application of this Ordinance. It must be suffered directly by the property in question; and evidence of other variances granted under similar circumstances may not be considered.

5.

The granting of the variance is necessary for the reasonable use of the land or building and the variance as granted by the Board is the minimum variance that will accomplish this purpose.

6.

The proposed variance will not impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property, substantially increase the congestion in the public streets, increase the danger of fire, endanger the public safety, or substantially diminish or impair property values within the adjacent neighborhood.

7.

The granting of the variance requested will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that is denied by this Ordinance to other lands or structures in the same district.

C.

The Board may prescribe any condition that it deems necessary to secure substantially the objectives of the provisions to which the variance applies. Violations of conditions lawfully attached to any variance approval are considered violations of this Ordinance and are subject to applicable fines and penalties.

(Ord. No. 2249, (Att.), 12-16-24)

14.04.01.

Purpose and Application. The purpose of the section is to empower the Board to approve special exceptions as provided for in the Ordinance. Hardship is not a requirement for special exceptions, but applicants must comply with all other requirements and any appropriate conditions for approval imposed by the Board to comply with the intent of this ordinance.

14.04.02.

The Board reviews requests for special exceptions for compliance with this Ordinance and all other applicable codes and ordinances of the City. The Board must determine that satisfactory provisions have been made concerning the following, among other considerations of this Ordinance:

A.

Access to and from the property and the proposed structure and/or uses, with particular attention to vehicular and pedestrian safety and convenience, traffic flow and control, and emergency access.

B.

The location and accessibility of off-street parking and loading areas.

C.

The location and accessibility of refuse and service areas and their potentially adverse effects upon surrounding properties.

D.

The screening and buffering of potentially adverse views and activities from surrounding properties.

E.

Control of noise, glare, odor, surface water runoff, and other potentially disturbing impacts upon surrounding properties.

F.

The availability, location, and capacity of utilities.

G.

The location and scale of signs and lighting with particular reference to traffic safety, glare, and visual compatibility with surrounding properties.

H.

The bulk, density, and lot coverage of structures, and yards and open areas, with reference to their compatibility with the character of the surrounding area.

14.04.03.

The Board may impose conditions for approval that it deems necessary in the particular case to protect the public interest and the intent of this Ordinance in relation to the items listed above and as may otherwise be reasonably necessary. Such conditions apply to the land, structure, and use for which the special exception is granted and not to a particular person. Violations of conditions lawfully attached to any special exception are considered violations of this Ordinance and are subject to applicable fines and penalties.

14.04.04.

Public Hearing. Upon application, the Board will schedule a public hearing on the proposed special exception to be held after public notice has been provided, as required by law. Within ten days after the close of a public hearing, the Board will render a written decision, setting forth its findings of fact and the reasons for such decision. All such decisions are final and binding on all parties.

(Ord. No. 2249, (Att.), 12-16-24)

14.05.01.

All decisions rendered by the Board are final and binding on all parties. No appeal request will be reheard, and no further application will be accepted, once a decision has been given, except under one or more of the following conditions:

A.

New evidence or information pertinent to the request has been discovered which was not available to the applicant at the time of the original hearing.

B.

The decision resulted from an error, made by the Board, the Director, or any other City official, in procedures required by this Ordinance or State law.

C.

The decision resulted from an error in substantive law under the provisions of this Ordinance or the Code of Alabama.

14.05.02.

Where no error is alleged and no new evidence is available, a new or more effective presentation by the applicant does not constitute grounds for rehearing a decision of the Board. Any applicant wishing a rehearing must appear before the Board to present one or more of the qualifying conditions listed in this Section. If the Board finds that one or more of these conditions exists, the applicant may submit a new application, together with the required fees. The new application will be heard at a subsequent meeting and will be subject to all regular advertising and procedural requirements. Allowing a new application does not obligate the Board to grant the request.

14.05.03.

Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Board may, within 15 days after such decision, appeal the decision in accordance with § 11-52-81 of the Alabama State Code.

(Ord. No. 2249, (Att.), 12-16-24)