There is hereby created a Board of Adjustment of the City of Sterling which shall consist of the members of the Sterling Planning Commission, as provided in Chapter 2 of the Code of the City of Sterling, Colorado.

The Board shall elect from its own membership its officers who shall serve annual terms and who may succeed themselves. For the conduct of any hearing or the taking of any action, a quorum of four (4) members is necessary. A majority affirmative vote of not less than three (3) members is necessary to authorize any action of the Board.

The duties of the Board shall be as follows:

A.

To meet at the call of the Chairman, by his or her request, or by the request of the Director of Public Works or designee, or by any aggrieved or appealing party wishing to appeal the decision.

B.

To adopt any rules necessary to transact the Board's business or to expedite its functions or powers so long as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance.

C.

To keep minutes of the proceedings of each meeting which shall be of public record.

D.

To permit the public to attend and to be heard at all of its meetings.

E.

To notify, in writing, the Director of Public Works or designee and the owner involved of all decisions made, resolutions passed, hearings scheduled, or permits authorized. All written decisions shall be accompanied by findings of fact and conclusions based thereon.

F.

To publish, or cause to be published, notice of public hearing for variances of this Section pursuant to Section 112 of this Zoning Ordinance of Sterling.

(Ord. No. 39-1998, 9-22-98, eff. 10-2-98; Ord. No. 2-2023, 4-11-23)

The Board shall have the power to:

A.

Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that there is error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by any administrative official or agency based on or made in the enforcement of this Ordinance.

B.

Hear and decide requests for interpretation of this Ordinance, including any uncertainty as to boundary location, or meaning of wording, so long as this interpretation is not contrary to the purpose and intent of this Ordinance.

C.

Hear and decide, grant or deny applications for variances from the provisions of this Ordinance. However, the Board may not grant variances from these provisions governing Planned Unit Developments. In granting any variance, the Board may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards as it may deem necessary to implement the purposes of this Ordinance.

A person wishing to obtain a variance from any requirement of this Ordinance shall make application upon forms to be provided by the Public Works Department. The following information shall be provided:

A.

The name and address of the person requesting the variance (and legal authority to act for the owner if not the same person listed in B below.)

B.

The name and address of the owner of the property for which the variance is requested.

C.

The specific requirement(s) of the City's Ordinance from which a variance is requested.

D.

A brief description of how the applicant wishes to vary the requirements of the section cited.

E.

Specific facts which support the issuance of a variance pursuant to 1308 below.

A fee as determined by City Council shall be paid at the time the application is filed. No further processing of the request for variance will take place until this fee has been paid to the Director of Finance. If the actual cost of processing any variance request exceeds the amount specified by Council, the excess amount shall be billed to the person requesting the variance as soon as it can be accurately determined, and if said bill is not paid within sixty (60) days, further processing of the variance request shall cease until such bill is paid. A fee schedule may be found in the Public Works Department.

Whenever a request for a variance is received by the Board of Adjustment, the Board shall provide for a public hearing to take testimony from affected parties regarding the request for variance, for which published notice shall be had, pursuant to Section 112 of this Zoning Ordinance of Sterling. "Affected parties" shall include owners of property.

Upon application for a variance, the Board of Adjustment shall send a written notice of said hearing pursuant to Section 112 of this Zoning Ordinance of Sterling.

(Ord. No. 13-1993, 9-28-93, eff. 10-8-93)

The Board may grant a variance only if it makes findings that the following requirements, insofar as applicable, have been satisfied:

A.

That there are unique physical circumstances or conditions, such as irregularity, narrowness or shallowness of the lot, or exceptional topographical or other physical conditions peculiar to the affected property;

B.

That the unusual circumstances or conditions do not exist throughout the neighborhood or district in which the property is located;

C.

That, because of such physical conditions or circumstances, the property cannot reasonably be developed in conformity within the provisions of this Ordinance;

D.

That such circumstances found to constitute the hardship were not purposely created by the applicant and cannot be reasonably corrected;

E.

That the variance, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood or district in which the property is located, nor substantially or permanently impair the appropriate use or development of adjacent property;

F.

That the variance, if granted, is the minimum variance that will afford relief and is the least modification possible of the provisions of this Ordinance which are in question;

G.

That the variance, if granted, would not authorize any use other than uses enumerated as a Use by Right, or Conditional Use in the district within which the variance is requested;

H.

That the present or proposed situation of such building or structure is reasonably necessary for the convenience or welfare of the public.

A.

All appeals to the board shall be in writing and on such a form as prescribed by the board. Every appeal shall indicate which provisions of this section are involved, what relief from these provisions is being sought, and the grounds upon which such an appeal is being sought. The notice of appeal must be filed within thirty (30) days after the act or decision which caused the appeal to be made. Appeals shall be submitted to the director of public works or designee and shall be accompanied by a filing fee in the amount currently in effect as established by city council. Such appeal shall be forwarded to the chairman of the board. A fee schedule may be found in the public works department.

B.

Any decision made by the board may be appealed to the city council. The board shall deliver its written decision to the applicant, via U.S. Mail. The applicant may within thirty (30) days of receiving the decision of the board, appeal the decision to the city council.

(Ord. No. 18-2007, 10-9-07, eff. 10-19-07)

An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from unless the Director of Public Works or designee certifies to the Board after the notice of appeal has been filed with him/her that, by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his/her opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property; but in such instances, proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the Board or by a court of competent jurisdiction, on notice to the Director of Public Works from whom the appeal is taken, and on good cause shown.

Upon receiving a notice of appeal, the Board shall schedule a time for the hearing, not to ex-ceed thirty (30) days from the filing of the notice of appeal. Notice of the hearing shall be mailed to the appellant and published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City at least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing date. The Board shall decide the appeal within thirty (30) days of said hearing. The majority concurring vote of not less than three (3) members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse or modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination appealed from or to effect any variation of this Ordinance.

The Director of Public Works or designee shall keep a record of all variances granted under this Chapter and shall file the findings and decision of the Board of Adjustment in each case together in a book or other filing system indexed separately as to name of the applicant and description of the property, including street address.

Where a building permit is required, a variance granted by the Board shall automatically expire within one hundred and eighty (180) days of the date it was granted or within such time as the Board shall prescribe, unless a building permit for such variance is obtained within such period. The Board may grant variance extensions for good cause shown, but only if an application for such extension is made prior to the expiration of the variance.