(a)

Establishment of the office of zoning hearing officer. The position of the Whiteside County Zoning Hearing Officer is hereby created in accordance with 55 ILCS 5/5-12015 and other applicable authority. The zoning hearing officer ("hearing officer") shall be appointed be the county board chairman, with the advice and consent of the county board. Alternate hearing officers may serve when the hearing officer is not available and may be appointed in the same manner as the hearing officer. hearing officers shall be appointed on the basis of training and experience which qualifies the to conduct hearings, make recommendations or findings of fact and conclusions on the matters heard and otherwise exercise and perform the powers, duties and functions delegated in accordance with 55 ILCS 5/12-12015.

(b)

Powers and duties. The hearing officer shall have all the powers and duties prescribed by law and by this section, including the following:

(1)

Appeals. Upon an appeal from a decision by any administrative official, including, but not limited to, the building and zoning administrator, to decide question involving the interpretation of any provision or term of chapter 39 of the County Code: Zoning, Planning and Development Code ("Code"), as applicable, including the determination of the exact location of any district boundary if there is uncertainty with respect thereto, or other claimed error in the decision or determination made by the administrative official in the enforcement of the Code; provided that such decision shall be bound by and consistent with the language of the Code, ordinance or regulation at issue;

(2)

Variances; special use. The hearing officer may, after a hearing, vary the application of the requirements of the Code, and allow for a special use. However, the county board may reverse, by ordinance, or as may otherwise be required by law, any class of variance or special use for approval only by the county board. In such cases where the county board has reversed decision making authority, or decision making authority has been otherwise required of the county board by law, the hearing officer shall still conduct a hearing and provide notice in compliance with 55 ILCS 5/12-12015. The hearing officer shall forward a written report containing findings of fact and a separate conclusion and recommendation thereon to the county board. The county board may by ordinance, without further public hearing; adopt any proposed variance or special use, refer it back to the hearing officer for further consideration, or deny the variance request or special use as a final action. Any proposed variance which fails to receive the approval of the Hearing Officer shall not be approved except by the favorable vote of three-fourths of all members of the county board. No variance shall be granted that shall authorize a use that may be granted by special use or planned use procedures. Use variances are not favored and shall be granted only when failure to authorize the use denies all economically viable use of the property or similar extreme hardship is demonstrated be the evidence presented. For the purposes of this section, "use variances" shall be any variance that authorizes any use or classification of use to continue or commence in a zoning district in which that use is not a permitted use by right. Any variance granted by the hearing officer, not substantially undertaken within six months from the date of approval, or a time identified be the hearing officer, is subject to revocation. Any variance granted by the hearing officer not fully exercised (project completed) within 12 months from the date of approval, or a time identified be the hearing officer, shall be deemed expired and maybe revoked by the building and zoning administrator.

(3)

Other authority. To hear and decide all other matters referred to the hearing officer by the county board, or upon which the hearing officer is required to hear and decide under applicable law.

(c)

Appeals. An appeal may be taken to the hearing officer by any person, firm or corporation aggrieved by the determination or decision of any administrative official charged with enforcement of any provision of or regulation adopted pursuant to the Code, or by any officer, department, board, or bureau of the county relating to such decision. The appeal shall be taken within 45 days of the action complained of by filing, with the Building and zoning administrator, a notice of appeal, specifying the grounds thereof. The building and zoning administrator shall thereupon transmit to the hearing officer and the official from whom the appeal is take all papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken. An appeal shall stay all proceedings and activities furtherance of the action appealed from, useless the official appealed from certifies to the hearing officer after the notice of appeal has been filed with them that by reason of facts stated in the certificate, the stay would, in their opinion, cause eminent peril to life or property, in which case the proceedings shall not be stayed except by restraining order, which may be granted by the hearing officer or by a court, on application, and notice to the official appealed from and on due cause shown. If the official appealed from files such a certificate with the hearing officer, notice and a copy of the certificate shall be provided to the applicant. The hearing officer may reverse or affirm wholly or partly, or may modify or amend the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from to the extent and in the manner that the hearing officer may decide to be fitting and proper to the premises. No challenge to any decision subject to this section shall be filed in any court until or unless a timely appeal has been filed and prosecuted to completion by the applicant as provided for in this section so as to establish a final appealable decision.

(d)

Variances. A variance may be sought by filing a written application and a payment of applicable fee to the building and zoning administrator specifying the specific provision to be varied, to the extent of the variation, and the basis therefore and including such requirements as are set forth in the Code. The hearing officer may grant a variance only if it is consistent with the general purposes of this Code, and that the strict application of the district requirements would result in great practical difficulties or hardship to the applicant. No variance may be granted to any condition or term of a special use permit or planned zoning procedure. The hearing officer may impose such conditions, safeguards and restrictions upon the premises, benefited by the variance as may be necessary to reduce or minimize any potentially injuries effect of such variance upon other property in the neighborhood, and carry out the general purpose and intent of these regulations. A request for a variance may be granted upon a finding and determination on the record by the hearing officer that the requirements of this Code have been met, and that all conditions are satisfied and upon such reasonable conditions as the hearing officer may establish.

(e)

Procedure.

(1)

General. The hearing officer shall act in accordance with the procedure specified by law and by the Code. All appeals and applications to the hearing officer shall be in writing. Every appeal or application shall refer to the specific provisions of the Code involved, and shall exactly set forth the interpretation that is claimed, the use for which the variance or special permit is sought, or the details of the variance that is applied for and the grounds on which it is claimed that the variance should be granted, as the case may be. The county may appear by any designated official of the county and be heard as a party in interest in any hearing before the hearing officer, and the county may appeal any decision of the hearing officer to a court of competent jurisdiction.

(2)

Notice of hearing. No action of the hearing officer shall be taken on any petition for variance until after notice has been given of the hearing. The hearing officer shall commence the public hearing within 60 days after the application is submitted, unless good cause exists for delay. The building and zoning administrator shall provide notice of the time, date, and location of such hearing and a brief summary or explanation of the subject matter of the hearing by publishing at least one notice thereof in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, such publication to be made at least 15 day before the public hearing but not more than 30 days before the hearing. The building and zoning administrator shall also send notice of the hearing concerning the variance by certified mail to property owners or persons residing on land adjacent to the property in question, and the owners of the property in question at the time the public notice is published. The cost of the publication and mailing must be paid by the applicant prior to the building and zoning administrator undertaking said publication and mailing. The hearing officer shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal or application and shall give due notice thereof to the parties and decide the matter within reasonable time.

(3)

Hearing procedure. All hearings conducted by the hearing officer shall be open to the public, held at the call of the hearing officer and at such times as he or she may determine. At hearings conducted by the hearing officer, the building and zoning administrator, or designee, shall provide the hearing officer with the factual background of the application, the request sought by the applicant, and the relevant sections of the Code. At hearings conducted by the hearing officer, any interested person may appear in person or by duly authorized agent or attorney. All testimony before the hearing officer shall be given on the record and under oath. The hearing officer shall administer oaths and may compel attendance of witnesses. The hearing officer shall keep minutes of his or her proceedings and other official actions. The hearing officer may adopt his or her own rules and procedures, not in conflict or inconsistent with this section or applicable Illinois law.

(4)

Decision and finding of fact. Every decision shall be accompanied by findings of fact and shall refer to any exhibits containing plans and specifications for the proposed use or variation. All documents, material, items received as exhibits by the hearing officer, as well as the recording of the proceedings, shall remain a part of the permanent records of the building and zoning administrator. The findings of fact shall specify the reason or reasons for allowing or denying the use or variation. The terms of any relief granted shall be specifically set forth in a conclusion or statement separate from the findings of fact. Property for which relief has been granted shall not be used in violation of the specific terms of the relief, as the case may be, unless its authorized use is changed by subsequent variance or ordinance. Every rule, regulation, decision, determination of the hearing officer shall be immediately file with the building and zoning administrator, but in no case more than ten business days following a hearing, and shall be public record. The hearing officer shall provide a complete copy of the findings of fact and decision to the applicant at the same time, and in the same manner, as provided to the building and zoning administrator, unless the applicant indicates a preferred method of notice.

(5)

Cost. For any application to the hearing officer, a fee shall be established and charged by the building and zoning administrator for the proceeding, plus all costs associated with the appeal, in the amount necessary to off-set said costs.

(f)

Judicial review of final decision. Any officer, department, board or bureau of the county or any person whose legal rights, duties, or privileges have been affected by any final decision of the hearing officer, or any party affected by the decision of the board where such decision has been reserved or referred to the board, may present to the circuit court having jurisdiction in the county, a complaint, duly verified, stating that such decision is illegal in whole or in part, specifying the grounds of the illegality and otherwise proceeding pursuant to the Administrative Review Law, which shall govern such appeals. Such complaint shall be presented to the court within 35 days after the filing of the final decision made by the zoning hearing officer with the building and zoning administrator. The costs of preparing and certifying the record of proceedings for filing with the circuit court in an administrative review proceeding shall be paid by the appellant, in the amount established by the building and zoning administrator, prior to the filing of such records with the court. To the full extent permitted by law, unless review is sought of an administrative decision within the time and in the manner herein provided, the parties to the proceeding before the administrative agency shall be barred from obtaining judicial review of such administrative decision.

(Ord. No. 12-2020-19, § 2, 12-22-2020)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 12-2020-19, § 2, adopted Dec. 22, 2020, repealed the former § 39-325, and enacted a new § 39-325 as set out herein. The former § 39-325 pertained to planning and zoning commission and derived from Compiled Ords. 2013, § 19-7.1; Ord. No. 2, adopted March 21, 2018.