A Board of Adjustment is established to consist of five (5) members, who shall be residents of the City except as provided in Section 305.410, RSMo., to be appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council. The Board shall have full power to adopt all rules for the transaction of its business and the regulations of procedure before it and the carrying out of its powers granted to it by the provisions herein set forth and not inconsistent therewith.

All members at the Board shall serve without pay. One (1) member of the first Board shall be appointed for one (1) year, one (1) member for two (2) years, one (1) member for three (3) years, one (1) member for four (4) years and one (1) member for five (5) years. Thereafter, members shall be appointed for terms of five (5) years each. Three (3) alternate members may be appointed to serve in the absence of or in the event of disqualification of regular members. All members and alternates shall be removable for cause by the City Council upon written charges and after public hearing. Vacancies shall be filed for the unexpired term of any member whose term becomes vacant in the same manner of original appointment.

Upon appointment and annually thereafter, the Board shall meet and organize and shall elect its own Chairman and Vice Chairman, each of whom shall serve for one (1) year or until his/her successor duly qualifies. The City Planner will serve as ex officio member of the Board without power of vote and shall act as Secretary and shall set up and maintain a separate file for each application and shall record therein the names and addresses of all persons and further keep a record of all notices and proceedings.

Meetings of the Board shall be held at such times and at such times within the City as the Board may designate, and may meet at any time on call of the Chairman. The Chairman of the Board, or in his/her absence the Acting Chairman, shall administer oaths to all persons offering testimony. He/she may also compel the attendance of witnesses. All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public. The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question or if absent or failing to vote indicating each fact and shall keep records of its examinations and other official actions, all of which shall be immediately filed in the office of the Board and shall be a public record. All testimony, objections thereto and rulings thereon, shall be taken down by a reporter employed by the Board for that purpose.

The presence of four (4) members shall be necessary to constitute a quorum and the concurring vote of at least four-fifths (4/5) of the members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of any administrative officer or to decide in favor of the applicant on any matter upon which it is required to pass under the zoning regulations or to effect any variations in such regulations.

The Building Inspector or his/her representative shall attend each meeting of the Board and shall bring with him/her all plans, specifications, plats and papers relating to any case before the Board for determination.

Whenever an appeal or application for variation or application for conditional use is made to the Board, the Board shall cause to be published a notice of a time and place of a public hearing upon such appeal or application, which notice shall be published at least once, not less than ten (10) days preceding the date of such hearing, in an official paper or a paper of general circulation in the City, the notice to contain the particular location for which the variation or use is requested, as well as a brief statement of what the proposed variance or use consists. The Board shall also give such additional notice of such hearing to interested persons and organizations as it deems feasible and practicable. The appellant or applicant shall be required to pay a filing fee of fifteen dollars ($15.00) plus postage costs associated with providing notice to cover costs as may be incurred in connection with such appeals or applications. The secretary of the Board shall deposit with the City Treasurer, upon receipt, all fees collected. Public hearings may be adjourned from time to time and if the time and place of the adjourned meeting be publicly announced when the adjournment is had, no further notice of such adjournment meeting need be published.

Upon order of the Board permitting the erection or alteration of a building a permit must be obtained within thirty (30) days or the order will be forfeited.

Decisions rendered by the Planning and Zoning Commission may be appealed to either the Board of Adjustment or the City Council.

The Board shall report to the Mayor and City Council all cases considered and action taken. This reporting will consist of a presentation of the minutes of every meeting to the City Council after such minutes have been approved by the Board.

The Board of Adjustment shall hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The Board of Appeals shall have the power to hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error of law in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Building Inspector or Zoning Officer in the enforcement of this Chapter.