(A)

The Board of Adjustment is authorized to grant variances as provided herein.

(B)

The City Council is authorized to grant variances, provided the variances are associated with an application for conditional use or site plan review on the same property.

(C)

For the purpose of this Section, Variances, the Board of Adjustment and City Council shall all be referred to as "the City."

(D)

The City may grant variances from the following provisions of this Article:

1.

Height.

2.

Area requirements, including but not limited to those for open space, pervious area, lot coverage, and dwelling size. Variances may be granted for lot dimensions provided minimum area requirements are maintained.

3.

Required quantities, including but not limited to, required landscape materials, parking spaces, vehicular stacking and loading spaces, and signs.

4.

Required (including minimum or maximum) dimensions, separations and locations.

(E)

Variances do not apply, and shall not be granted for, the establishment or expansion of a use not specifically, or by inference, allowed in the applicable zoning district.

(F)

ESTABLISHMENT AND PROCEDURES. The following regulations shall govern the establishment and procedures of the Board of Adjustment.

1.

ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION. There is hereby established a Board of Adjustment which shall consist of seven (7) members to be appointed by the City Council, from among the residents of the City of Pinellas Park. The term of office for members shall be three (3) years. Members shall be appointed from persons in a position to represent the general public interest, and no person shall be appointed with private or personal interests likely to conflict with the general public interest. In the event a member is no longer a resident of the City of Pinellas Park during his or her tenure on the Board of Adjustment, then said member shall be permitted to finish his or her term, but shall not be reappointed to the Board so long as said member is no longer a resident of the City. If any person appointed shall find that their private or personal interests are involved in any matter coming before the Board of Adjustment, all applicable provisions of Section 112.3143, F.S. - "Voting Conflicts", shall apply.

2.

REMOVAL AND VACANCIES. Members of the Board of Adjustment may be removed by the City Council where a majority of the members of City Council feel that such action is in the best interests of the City. In case of vacancies occurring in the membership, the City Council shall fill such vacancies for the unexpired term of the original appointment.

3.

OFFICERS. The Board of Adjustment shall elect a chairperson and a vice-chairperson from among its members who shall serve for one (1) year. Such election shall take place annually at the regular meeting in January, or from time to time as a two-thirds (⅔) majority of all members of the Board may deem necessary for the test interests of the Board.

4.

RULES. The Board of Adjustment shall adopt such rules as necessary for the conduct of its affairs, and in keeping with the provisions of this Article.

The Planning and Development Services Director or a designee shall be the secretary to the Board of Adjustment, be responsible for keeping a record of the Board's actions, provide public notice for public hearing items and of meetings generally, provide necessary background material and present staff recommendations on issues coming before the Board, keeping a record of attendance, keeping a record of all official findings and determinations of the Board, showing the vote of the membership on each question requiring a vote or, if absent or abstaining from voting, indicating such fact. The official actions of the Board of Adjustment shall be a public record.

5.

MEETINGS AND QUORUMS. The Board of Adjustment shall hold at least one (1) regular meeting every month, on a day to be established by the Board of Adjustment. All regular and special meetings and work sessions shall be open to the public. In the event there are no issues to be heard by the Board, the secretary may declare such meeting canceled. In addition, the Board of Adjustment may hold such special meetings or work sessions as may be called by the chairperson, provided, however, that each member of the Board shall be entitled to at least five (5) days written notice, and all items to be considered and all supporting material shall be delivered to their residence prior to the special meeting or work session of the Board.

The Board of Adjustment shall not transact any business at a regular or special meeting or work session unless a quorum of four (4) members is present, and every official action taken and every decision rendered shall be approved by a simple majority of the members present. In the event a quorum is not present, the chairperson shall declare such, and all public hearing items and any other business shall automatically be continued to the next scheduled meeting. By a majority vote of the Board, the Board may table any application or case before it, provided such application or case be heard at the next regularly scheduled meeting or at such other meeting as agreed upon with the Board.

The Board shall have the power to take testimony under oath. With permission of the owner or applicant, the Board may enter upon the applicant's land and make examinations or surveys of the subject property.

(Ord. No. 3748, § 3, 10-28-2010; Ord. No. 3805, § 1, 4-12-2012; Ord. No. 3853, § 2, 8-8-2013; Ord. No. 4170, § 3, 11-10-2022)

(A)

A variance from the terms of this Article shall not be granted unless and until a written application for a variance is submitted demonstrating:

1.

That special conditions and circumstances exist which are peculiar to the land or building involved, and which are not applicable to other lands or buildings in the same district; and

2.

That literal interpretation of the provisions of this Article would deprive the applicant of rights commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same district under the terms of this Article; and

3.

That the special conditions and circumstances do not result from the actions of the applicant; and

4.

That granting the variance requested will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that is denied by this Article to other lands or buildings in the same district; and

5.

That the requested variance is the minimum variance that will make possible the reasonable use of the land or building; and

6.

That the granting of the variance will be in harmony with the general intent and purpose of this Article, and that such variance will not be injurious to the area involved or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare.

(B)

Nonconforming uses of neighboring lands, nonconforming buildings in the same zoning district, and adjacency to other zoning district(s) with different permitted uses and development standards shall not be considered grounds for the issuance of a variance.

(Ord. No. 3748, § 3, 10-28-2010)

(A)

FILING OF APPLICATION. Petitions for variances may be filed by any property owner substantially aggrieved by the literal enforcement of a provision of this Article, as authorized under Section 18-1537.1(D), above. Such petitions shall be filed on forms provided by the City and shall be submitted to the Zoning Division. There shall be an application fee for each variance petition, as shall be set by Resolution of the City Council, as may be amended from time to time. The application fee shall be paid upon filing of the application.

(B)

PUBLIC NOTICE. Notice of the public hearing shall be given as provided under Section 18-1534, "Public Notice Requirements".

(C)

PUBLIC HEARING PROCEDURE. The City shall hear the petition for variance pursuant to the City's quasi-judicial procedures, as set forth in Resolution No. 94-65.

(D)

BURDEN OF PROOF ON THE APPLICANT. The applicant shall be responsible for, and shall bear the burden of, demonstrating by competent substantial evidence that the relief sought should be granted based upon the evidence on the record.

(E)

CONDITIONS. In granting any variance, the City may prescribe appropriate conditions and safeguards that are reasonably necessary to mitigate any impact the variance may have on the public welfare, particularly the surrounding neighborhood. Violation of such conditions and safeguards, when made a part of the terms under which the variance is granted, shall be deemed a violation of this Article and punishable accordingly.

(Ord. No. 3748, § 3, 10-28-2010)

(A)

A variance shall automatically lapse and become null and void if:

1.

A building permit(s) has not been obtained for construction therewith within one (1) year from the date of approval, in accordance with any conditions pursuant to which that variance was granted.

2.

If a building permit(s) is obtained within this time period, but the building permit(s) expire or are revoked pursuant to the building Code, the variance shall lapse six (6) months from the date the building permits expire or are revoked, unless the permits are reactivated within that period. Any further expiration or revocation shall result in immediate and automatic voiding of the variance.

(B)

It shall be the responsibility of the property owner to ensure that a variance does not expire. The City is in no way obligated to provide notice that a variance is about to expire.

(C)

The petitioner may be granted a single extension to an expiring variance for up to one (1) year upon the Zoning Director's receipt of a written request for extension not less than thirty-five (35) days prior to the expiration date of the variance. The request shall state the reasons for the extension request. Upon finding that the extension is required for reasons beyond the applicant's control, the Zoning Director shall determine the length of the extension based upon the nature of the circumstances resulting in the request for extension, and may impose additional procedural conditions to ensure that the intent of the extension is adhered to.

(D)

Whenever the City Council has taken action to reject a variance, the Council shall not consider any further request for the same or any other variance on any part of the same property for a period of one (1) year from the date of such action (or date of any final court order denying the variance), unless the time period is waived by four (4) affirmative votes of the City Council in order to prevent injustice or to facilitate the proper and orderly development of the City.

(Ord. No. 3748, § 3, 10-28-2010)

(a)

Qualified aggrieved persons or the City Manager may appeal Zoning variance decisions of the Board of Adjustment to the City Council. For the purpose of establishing standing in such procedure, qualified aggrieved persons are: the property owner/applicant and those persons owning real property located within three hundred (300) feet of the parcel of land to which a requested variance would apply.

(b)

Procedure.

1.

Qualified aggrieved persons or the City Manager may request an appeal of a Board of Adjustment decision by filing a written Notice of Appeal with the City's Zoning Director within ten (10) days of the Board of Adjustment hearing either granting or denying a Board of Adjustment application for variance accompanied by a nonrefundable fee of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00). Said notice shall state the reasons for which the appeal is requested and said reasons shall be consistent with the variance review criteria of Section 18-1537.2 above.

2.

The City Council shall conduct a public hearing to decide the appeal within thirty-five (35) days of the request or as soon thereafter as possible.

3.

The appeal shall be de novo at a quasi-judicial hearing before City Council and conducted pursuant to the rules adopted therefore. The appeal will not be limited to the record of the Board of Adjustment hearing, and new evidence and witness testimony may be presented.

4.

The burden of proof shall be on the appellant to show one or more of the following occurred to warrant reversal of the Board of Adjustment decision by the City Council:

a.

There was an error of fact or other defect in the Board of Adjustment decision which renders the decision inconsistent with the variance review criteria of Section 18-1537.2;

b.

The Board of Adjustment decision was not substantially based upon the evidence presented at the hearing, and/or the evidence presented at the hearing did not support approval or denial of a variance pursuant to the criteria contained in Section 18-1537.2;

c.

Reversal of the Board of Adjustment decision is necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare;

d.

Matters were proffered that Council may deem to be of substantial public interest.

5.

The decision of the City Council on all issues related to the appeal shall be final.

6.

Further judicial review of the decision shall be before the Circuit Court.

(Ord. No. 3799, § 1, 2-23-2012; Ord. No. 4079, § 1(Att. A)127., 3-14-2019)