(a)   There is hereby established, pursuant to 65 ILCS 5/11-13-3, in and for the Village, a Zoning Board of Appeals. Such Board shall consist of seven members appointed by Council. Members shall serve staggered terms of five years.

   (b)   Vacancies shall be filled by Council for the unexpired term. Members may be removed by Council for cause after a public hearing has been held.

   (c)   One of the members of the Board shall be designated by Council as Chairperson of such Board and shall hold such office until a successor is appointed. The Chairperson, or, in his or her absence, the Acting Chairperson, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses.

   (d)   The Village Clerk shall act as secretary for the Board and shall make and keep a record of all its meetings and official acts.

(Ord. 1999-22. Passed 6-14-99.)

   (a)   All meetings of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be held at the call of the Chairperson and at such other times as the Board may determine. All meetings shall be open to the public, as provided by the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

   (b)   The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon every question, or, if a member is absent or fails to vote, indicating such fact. The Board shall also keep records of its examinations and other official actions. Findings of fact shall be included in the minutes in each case, and the reasons for granting or denying each application shall be specified. Every rule, regulation, order, requirement, decision or determination of the Board shall immediately be filed in the office of the Village Clerk and shall be a public record.

   (c)   The Board shall adopt its own rules of procedure, a copy of which and all amendments thereto shall be filed in the office of the Clerk.

   (d)   The minutes of the Board meetings shall be open to public examination at reasonable hours.

   (e)   Expenses incurred by the Board are to be itemized and shall be borne by the Village.

   (a)   The Zoning Board of Appeals shall hear appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Building Commissioner, who is charged with the enforcement of this Zoning Code.

   (b)   An appeal to the Board may be made by a person aggrieved, or by an officer or department, board or bureau of the Village. Such appeal shall be made, within such time as is prescribed by the Board by a general rule, by filing, with the officer from whom the appeal is taken and with the Board, a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof, together with such plats and exhibits as are reasonably necessary. Such appeal shall be taken upon forms provided by the Board. The Village Clerk shall forthwith transmit to the Board all of the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed was taken.

   (c)   The Board shall fix a reasonable time and place for the hearing of appeals and shall give notice thereof to the persons appealing and to the officer from whom the appeal is taken. It shall hear the appeal within a reasonable time. At the hearings, parties of interest may appear in person or by agent or attorney.

   (d)   The Board may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify or amend the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from to the extent and in the manner that the Board may decide to be fitting and proper in the premises, and to that end the Board shall also have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken. The concurring vote of four members of the Board is necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of the Commissioner or to decide in favor of the applicant any matter upon which it is authorized by this Zoning Code to render decisions.

   Council may, by ordinance, determine and vary the application of any of the provisions of this Zoning Code in harmony with the general purpose and intent of such provisions relating to the use, construction or alteration of buildings or the use of land, in cases where there are practical difficulties or particular hardship in carrying out the strict letter of any such provision. Variances, however, shall only be authorized in the following instances:

   (a)   To permit a temporary building for business or industry in a district for a use otherwise excluded from such district, provided that the use is incidental to the development of that district, such permit to be for a period of not more than one year;

   (b)   To permit the alteration or enlargement of an existing building occupied by a non-conforming use, where such alteration or enlargement is a necessity incident to such use;

   (c)   To permit, in an M-1 Limited Manufacturing District, a building or use otherwise excluded from such District, provided that such building or use is distinctly incidental and essential to a use permitted in such District and provided, further, that such incidental building or use occupies not more than ten percent of the lot, that not more than ten percent of the employees of the building or plant will be engaged therein and that such building or use is not located within fifty feet of a street;

   (d)   To permit the extension of a district where the boundary line of the district divides a lot in single ownership, as shown on record prior to the date of passage of this Zoning Code;

   (e)   To permit a front, side or rear yard less than that required by this Zoning Code;

   (f)   To permit a building to exceed the height limit by not more than ten percent of the height limit established by this Zoning Code;

   (g)   To permit the use of a lot smaller in area than the lot area required by this Zoning Code;

   (h)   To permit the use of a lot smaller in width than the lot width required by this Zoning Code;

   (i)   To interpret this Zoning Code where the street layout actually on the ground varies from the street layout as shown on the Zoning Map fixing the several districts, which Map is incorporated in and made a part of this Zoning Code;

(Adopting Ordinance; Ord. 1996-22. Passed 9-9-96.)

   (j)   To permit an increase in the maximum lot coverage, as set forth in Section 1246.07, by not more than thirty-three percent;

   (k)   To permit an increase in the maximum gross floor area, as set forth in Section 1246.08, by not more than ten percent;

(Ord. 1996-29. Passed 11-25-96.)

   (l)   To permit a decorative masonry wall, used in conjunction with landscaping or for screening purposes, to encroach into the sixteen foot wide easement area as required by Sections 1264.02(a)(6) and 1246.03(a), but by no more than two feet;

   (m)   To permit a decorative masonry wall, used in conjunction with landscaping or for screening purposes, to encroach into the fifteen foot wide landscape buffer area as required by Section 1461.01(g)(4), but by not more than two feet;

   (n)   To permit a sign to exceed the height limit by not more than fifteen percent of the height limit set forth in Chapter 1480; and

   (o)   To permit a sign to exceed the maximum surface area limit by not more than fifteen percent of the maximum surface area limit set forth in Chapter 1480.

   (p)   To permit a right-of-way width for a minor street of less than that required by Section 1246.02(a)(3), but not less than fifty feet in width.

   (q)   To permit up to a six percent (6%) reduction in the parking space length requirement of Section 1282.10(a) of the Village Code.

   (r)   To permit up to a six percent (6%) reduction in the parking space square footage requirement of Section 1282.10(a) of the Village Code.

   (s)   To permit an accessory building to be constructed beyond the front building line of the principal building, subject to the location of said accessory building being otherwise in compliance with Section 1286.06(a)(6).

   (t)   To permit an accessory structure to be located in an alternative location than as set forth in Section 1286.06(b); and to permit a swimming pool to be located in an alternative location than as set forth in Section 1482.07.

(Ord. 2001-36. Passed 9-10-01; Ord. 2004-05. Passed 1-26-04; Ord. 2005-27. Passed 7-11-05; Ord. 2007-15. Passed 2-26-07; Ord. 2020-24. Passed 11-9-20; Ord. 2021-30. Passed 11-22- 21; Ord. 2022-19. Passed 11-14-22.)

   Except as provided in Section 1220.05 of this Code, an application for a variance of this Zoning Code may be made by a property owner, or his or her agent, to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Such application shall be made in writing, stating the variance requested, the location of the property for which the variance is requested, the name of the property owner and the cause of the requested variance.

(Ord. 2014-19. Passed 8-25-14.)

   All requests for zoning variances shall be reviewed by Village staff for completeness, and then forwarded in a timely manner to the Zoning Board of Appeals, who shall consider said request at a public hearing, and make recommendations to the applicant and to the Village Council, who shall approve or deny said request. The notices and public hearing procedures shall conform to Section 1262.10 of the Village Code.

(Ord. 2010-06. Passed 2-8-10.)

   The Zoning Board of Appeals shall report its findings and recommendations in writing to Council within thirty days from the conclusion of the public hearing. In considering all proposed variances to this Zoning Code, the Board shall, before recommending that Council grant a variance, first determine and make a finding of fact that the proposed variance will not merely serve as a convenience to the applicant, but is necessary to alleviate practical difficulties or a demonstrable hardship in the way of carrying out the strict letter of those regulations relating to the use, construction, or alteration of buildings or structures or the use of land, and that:

   In addition, the Board shall look to, and make findings of fact in regard to, those factors set forth in Section 1260.05(b)(1) through (6) in regard to the requested variation. Such findings of fact shall be incorporated in the written report to Council.

   The Zoning Board of Appeals may recommend certain limited conditions on the development subject to the variance that are necessary or appropriate to reduce the impact or injurious effect of said variance and to better carry out the general intent of the Village regulations.

(Adopting Ordinance; Ord. 1996-22. Passed 9-9-96; Ord. 2011-15. Passed 4-11-11; Ord. 2011-16. Passed 4-11-11.)

   Upon receipt of the report and recommendations from the Zoning Board of Appeals to grant or deny a variance, Council, without further public hearing, may approve the variance, deny the variance or refer it back to the Board for further consideration. In approving a variance, the Council may impose certain limited conditions on the development subject to the variance, as recommended by the Zoning Board of Appeals, or as determined by the Council, that are necessary or appropriate to reduce the impact or injurious effect of said variance and to better carry out the general intent of the Village regulations. Action by Council shall be by a majority vote of Council, except that any proposed variance which fails to receive a positive recommendation from the Board shall not be approved by Council except by a favorable vote of at least two-thirds (2/3rds) of all the Commissioners. A denial shall not require an ordinance, but shall be reflected in the official minutes of Council. Any approval shall be memorialized in ordinance form.

   No variance in any case shall be approved by Council without a hearing by the Board and a report to Council, as required in Sections 1264.06 and 1264.07, respectively.

(Ord. 1996-26. Passed 10-28-96; Ord. 2011-15. Passed 4-11-11; Ord. 2017-13. Passed 4-24-17.)

   (a)   No variation relative to the erection or alteration of a building or structure shall be valid for longer than one year from the date of the approval of the variation, unless a building permit for such erection or alteration is obtained within such period and such erection or alteration is started and proceeds to completion in accordance with the terms of such permit.

   (b)   No variation relative to the use of an existing building or premises shall be valid for longer than one year from the date of the approval of the variation, unless such use is established within such period. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if such use is dependent upon the erection or alteration of a building or structure, such variation shall continue in full force and effect beyond said one-year period, provided that a building permit for such erection or alteration is obtained within the initial one-year period, such erection or alteration is started and proceeds to completion in accordance with the terms of such permit and such use is established within six months after the erection or alteration work is completed.

   (c)   Without need to reappear before the Plan Commission or the Zoning Board of Appeals, the owner of any property, in relation to which a variation has been granted, may petition the Village Council for up to a six-month extension of the time limitations set forth in subsection (a) and/or (b) hereof, as extended if applicable, and, upon a showing of good cause as to why said time limitation(s) could not be complied with, the Village Council may grant said extension request. No more than two such extensions may be petitioned for and granted in regard to a particular variation.

(Ord. 2001-09. Passed 2-26-01; Ord. 2004-49. Passed 9-13-04; Ord. 2005-27. Passed 7-11-05.)

   An appeal for a variance shall stay all proceedings and furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the Building Commissioner certifies to the Zoning Board of Appeals, after notice of appeal has been filed with him or her, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate a stay would, in his or her opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In such a case, the proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order, which may be granted by the Board or by a court of record on application, with notice to the officer from whom the appeal is taken, and upon due cause being shown.