An appeal where it is alleged there is an error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative official in the enforcement of this Chapter may be taken to the Board of Adjustment by any person aggrieved. An appeal is taken by filing with City Hall and the Board of Adjustment a written notice of appeal specifying the grounds. A notice of appeal shall be considered filed with City Hall and with the Board of Adjustment when delivered to City Hall, and the date and time of filing shall be entered on the notice by the City Hall staff.

An appeal must be filed within thirty (30) days after the date of the decision or order appealed from.

Whenever an appeal is filed, the City Administrator shall transmit to the Board of Adjustment all the papers constituting the record relating to the action appealed from.

An appeal stays all actions by the City Administrator seeking enforcement of or compliance with the order or decision appealed from, unless the City Administrator certifies to the Board of Aldermen that (because of facts stated in the certificate) a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In that case, proceedings shall not be stayed except by order of the Board of Adjustment or a court, issued on application of the party seeking the stay, for due cause shown, after notice to the City Administrator.

The Board of Adjustment may reverse or affirm (wholly or partly) or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination that in its opinion ought to be made in the case before it. To this end, The Board of Adjustment shall have powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken.

An application for a variance shall be submitted to the Board of Adjustment by filing a copy of the application with the City Administrator at City Hall. Applications shall be handled in the same manner as applications for conditional use permits in conformity with the provisions of Article IV, Sections 400.155, 400.160, and 400.195.

A variance may be granted by the Board of Adjustment if it concludes that strict enforcement of the ordinance would result in practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships for the applicant and that, by granting the variance, the spirit of the ordinance will be observed, public safety and welfare secured, and substantial justice done. It may reach these conclusions if it finds that:

In granting variances, the Board of Adjustment may impose such reasonable conditions as will ensure that the use of the property to which the variance applies will be as compatible as practicable with the surrounding properties.

A variance may be issued for an indefinite duration or for a specified duration only.

The nature of the variance and any conditions attached to it shall be entered on the face of the approved use permit or the approved use permit may simply note the issuance of the variance and refer to the written record of the variance for further information. All such conditions are enforceable in the same manner as any applicable requirement of this Chapter.

The Board of Adjustment is authorized to interpret the Zoning Map and to pass upon disputed questions of lot lines or district boundary lines and similar questions. If such questions arise in the contest of an appeal from a decision of the City Administrator, they shall be handled as provided in Article VI, Section 400.300.

An application for a map interpretation shall be submitted to the Board of Adjustment by filing a copy of the application with the City Administrator at City Hall. The application shall contain sufficient information to enable the Board of Adjustment to make the necessary interpretation.

Interpretations of the location of floodway and flood plain boundary lines may be made by the City Administrator.

When an appeal is taken to the Board of Adjustment in accordance with Article VI, Section 400.300, the City Administrator shall have the initial burden of presenting to the Board of Adjustment sufficient evidence and argument to justify the order or decision appealed from. The burden of presenting evidence and argument to the contrary then shifts to the appellant who shall also have the burden of persuasion.

The burden of presenting evidence sufficient to allow the Board of Adjustment to reach the conclusion set forth in Article VI, Section 400.300 as well as the burden of persuasion on those issues, remains with the applicant seeking the variance.

With respect to appeals, a motion to reverse, affirm, or modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination appealed from shall include, insofar as practicable, a statement of the specific reasons or findings of facts that support the motion. If a motion to reverse or modify is not made or fails to receive the four-fifths (4/5) vote necessary for adoption, then a motion to uphold the decision appealed from shall be in order. This motion is adopted as the Board of Adjustment's decision if supported by more than one-fifth (1/5) of the Board's membership (excluding vacant seats).

A motion to deny a variance may be made on the basis that any one (1) or more of the six (6) criteria set forth in Article VI, Section 400.305(B) are not satisfied or that the application is incomplete. Insofar as practicable, such a motion shall include a statement of the specific reasons or findings of fact that support it. This motion is adopted as the Board of Adjustment's decision if supported by more than one-fifth (1/5) of the Board's membership (excluding vacant seats).