Silver Creek Township
City Zoning Code

ZONING BOARD

OF APPEALS

§ 155.250 CREATION AND MEMBERSHIP.

(A) Established. There is hereby created a Zoning Board of Appeals, which shall perform its duties and exercise its powers and jurisdiction, as provided in the Zoning Act, being M.C.L.A. §§ 125.3101 et seq., and by certain provisions of this subchapter; to the end that the objectives of this subchapter are observed, public safety, morals, and general welfare secured, and substantial justice done.

(B) Membership.

(1) The Zoning Board of Appeals shall consist of five members appointed in accordance with the requirements of the Zoning Act, being M.C.L.A. §§ 125.3101 et seq. The term of each member shall be three years and until a successor has been appointed and qualified, which successor must be appointed not more than one month after the expiration of the preceding term.

(2) One member of the Board shall be a member of the Planning Commission. One member of the Township Board may also be a member of the Board. Members from the Township Board and from the Planning Commission shall have terms limited to their respective other official terms or to such lesser period determined by resolution of the Township Board at the time of appointment.

(3) No employee of the township shall be a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

(4) Vacancies of the Board for unexpired terms shall be filled for the remainder of the term.

(5) Members of the Board may be removed by the Township Board for misconduct in office upon written charges and after public hearing.

(1) The Township Board may appoint not more than two alternate members to the Zoning Board of Appeals for the same term as regular members. If two alternate members have been appointed, they may be called on a rotating basis, as they are available to sit as regular members of the Zoning Board of Appeals in the absence of a regular member.

(2) An alternate member may also be called to serve in the place of a regular member when such member has abstained for reasons of conflict of interest or in the case of an absence of 30 days or more, or absence from two or more consecutive meetings. The alternate member having been appointed shall serve in the case until a final decision has been made.

(3) The alternate member shall have the same voting rights as a regular member of the Zoning Board of Appeals. An alternate member shall only serve to discuss or vote upon a case in the absence of or upon the declaration of a conflict of interest of a regular member.

(D) Procedures. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall fix rules and regulations to govern its procedures.

(E) Quorum. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall not conduct business unless a majority of the membership of the Zoning Board of Appeals is present, including alternates when sitting as a regular member.

(Ord. passed 7-30-2015)

§ 155.251 JURISDICTION.

(A) The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the power to hear and decide, in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter, applications for interpretations of this chapter, and may make decisions on any other questions on which the Board is authorized by this chapter or the Zoning Act being M.C.L.A. §§ 125.3101 et seq., to pass. In exercising all of its powers, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall apply the standards of § 155.253.

(B) When there is any question as to the location of any boundary line between districts, upon a request for an interpretation of the zoning maps, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall establish the boundary based upon said maps and all available information relating thereto, and shall establish such boundaries in such ways as to carry out the intent and purposes of this chapter and the Master Plan.

(C) The Zoning Board of Appeals shall hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by any administrative official or body charged with the enforcement of any provisions of this chapter.

(D) The Zoning Board of Appeals shall act upon all questions as may arise in the administration of this chapter, including the interpretation of the language of this chapter.

(E) The Zoning Board of Appeals shall not be permitted to hear appeals from special land use decisions.

(Ord. passed 7-30-2015)

§ 155.252 APPLICATION AND HEARING PROCEDURE.

(A) An application to the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be submitted in accordance with the following procedures.

(1) Applications shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator who will review the application for validity, then transmit it to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Applications not meeting the requirements shall be returned to the applicant for completion.

(2) A valid application for to the Zoning Board of Appeals shall consist of the following:

(a) Five copies of a site plan drawn to scale which is sufficient to describe the nature of the request, if applicable;

(b) A completed application form, as provided by the township;

(d) A legal description of the entire property which is the subject of the request.

(B) The Zoning Board of Appeals shall give written notice of the hearing to all persons to whom real property is assessed within 300 feet of the property to be affected by an application for a variance at least five days prior to the hearing. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall maintain satisfactory evidence that notices have been mailed.

(Ord. passed 7-30-2015)

§ 155.253 STANDARDS OF REVIEW.

(A) Granting of non-use variances. A non-use variance may be allowed by the Zoning Board of Appeals only in cases where there is reasonable evidence of practical difficulty in the official record of the hearing and that all of the following conditions are addressed.

(1) The variance will not be significantly detrimental to adjacent property and the surrounding neighborhood.

(2) The variance will not impair the intent and purpose of this chapter.

(3) The immediate practical difficulty causing the need for the variance request was not created by any action of the applicant or predecessor.

(4) The variance requested is the variance necessary to meet the purpose and intent of the chapter and to meet the other standards of review in this section.

(5) Would a lesser relaxation than applied for give substantial relief to the owner of the property involved and be more consistent with justice to other property owners, and whether relief can be granted in such fashion that the spirit of the chapter will be observed and public safety and welfare secured.

(B) Granting of use variances. A use variance may be allowed by the Zoning Board of Appeals only in cases where there is reasonable evidence of unnecessary hardship in the official record of the hearing that all of the following conditions are addressed.

(1) The proposed use will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood.

(2) The variance will not be significantly detrimental to adjacent property and the surrounding neighborhood.

(3) The variance will not impair the intent and purpose of this chapter.

(4) The unnecessary hardship causing the need for the variance request was not created by any action of the applicant or predecessor.

(Ord. passed 7-30-2015; amended 6- -2011)

§ 155.254 DECISIONS OF THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS.

(A) The concurring vote of at least a majority of the total number of members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination of any administrative official or body or to decide in favor of the appellant on any matter.

(B) All decisions of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall become final after the date of the meeting at which the decision is made and the record of the meeting shall be the written record of said meeting.

(Ord. passed 7-30-2015; Ord. 18-01, passed 8-8-2018)

§ 155.255 RESUBMISSION.

(A) No variance request, or substantially similar request, which has been decided by the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be submitted for reconsideration within a one-year period from the date of the original application.

(B) After the one-year period, the application will only be considered if the applicant first demonstrates the following:

(1) The conditions involving all of the reasons for the original denial have been significantly altered; or

(2) New conditions or circumstances exist which change the nature of the original request.