There is hereby established a Zoning Board of Appeals, which shall perform its duties and exercise its powers as provided in Article VI of Act 110 of the Public Acts of 2006 and in such a way that the objectives of this Zoning Code shall be observed, public safety secured, and substantial justice done. The Board shall consist of seven members appointed by the Village Council, one of whom shall be a member of the Planning Commission. Each appointment shall be for a period of three years, with the exception of the Planning Commission Liaison, which shall be appointed annually. Each member of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall have been a resident of the Village for at least one year prior to the date of his or her appointment and shall be a qualified and registered elector of the Village on such day and throughout his or her tenure of office. A member of the Zoning Board of Appeals may be removed by the Village Council for misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office upon written charges and after public hearing. A member shall disqualify himself or herself from a vote in which the member has a conflict of interest. Failure of a member to disqualify himself or herself from a vote in which the member has a conflict of interest constitutes malfeasance in office. Any appointive vacancies in the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be filled by the Village Council for the remainder of the unexpired term. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall annually elect its own Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and Secretary. The compensation of the appointed members of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be fixed by the Village Council.

   The Village Council may appoint not more than two alternate members of the Board of Appeals. The alternate members may be called on a rotating basis as determined by the Board of Appeals to sit as regular members of the Board of Appeals in the absence of a regular member. An alternate member may also be called to serve in the place of a regular member for the purpose of reaching a decision on a case in which the regular member has abstained for reasons of conflict of interest. The alternate member having been appointed shall serve in the case until a final decision has been made. The alternate member shall have the same voting rights as a regular member of the Board of Appeals. The first alternate who is seated as of the date of the adoption of Ordinance 106A-22, passed February 13, 1991, shall serve as first alternate until December 31, 1991, at which time the first alternate member of the Zoning Board of Appeals will be appointed for a three-year period and appointments shall be made every three years thereafter. The second alternate who is seated as of the date of adoption of Ordinance 106A-22, passed February 13, 1991, shall serve until December 31, 1992, at which time the second alternate shall be appointed for a three-year period and shall be appointed thereafter for succeeding three-year periods.

(Ord. 106. Passed 12-9-81; Ord. 106A-14. Passed 7-8-87; Ord. 106A-22. Passed 2-13-91; Ord. 106-A48. Passed 11-14-07; Ord. 106-A52. Passed 8-12-09.)

   All meetings of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be held at the call of the Chairperson and at such times as such Board may determine. All hearings conducted by said 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 such fact; and shall also keep records of its hearings and other official action. Five members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of its business. The Board shall have the power to subpoena and require the attendance of witnesses, administer oaths and compel testimony and the production of books, papers, files, and other evidence pertinent to the matters before it.

(Ord. 106. Passed 12-9-81.)

   The Zoning Board of Appeals is hereby vested with the following jurisdiction and authority:

   (a)   To hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by the Building Inspector or the Planning Commission under this Zoning Code;

   (b)   To hear and pass upon the applications for variances from the terms provided in this Zoning Code in the manner prescribed by and subject to the standards established herein;

   (c)   To hear and decide all matters referred to it or upon which it is required to pass under this Zoning Code;

   (d)   To authorize, upon an appeal, a non-use (dimensional) variance from any dimensional standard or requirement of this chapter, such as but not limited to, density, height, bulk, setback or parking and landscaping requirements whereby reason of unique physical characteristics a specific piece of property at the time of enactment of this section or other extraordinary or exceptional conditions of such property, the strict application of such regulations if enacted would result in practical difficulties upon the owner of such property provided such relief may be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and without substantially impairing the intent and purpose of this section. In granting a variance, the Board may attach conditions regarding the location, character, and other features of the proposed uses as it may deem reasonable in furtherance of the purpose of this section. In granting a variance, the Board shall state the grounds upon which it justified the granting of a variance. The Board shall not grant a nonuse variance unless it shall have made a finding of fact based upon the evidence as presented to it in each specific case as specified below:

      (1)   Practical difficulties. Compliance with the strict letter of the restrictions governing area, setbacks, frontage, height, bulk, density or other dimensional provisions would create practical difficulties, unreasonably prevent the use of the property for a permitted purpose or render conformity with such restrictions unnecessarily burdensome. The showing of mere inconvenience is insufficient to justify a variance. Practical difficulties include:

         A.   The exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of a specific property;

         B.   The exceptional topographic or environmental conditions or manmade constraints or other extraordinary situation on the land, building, or structure; and

         C.   The use or development of the property immediately adjoining the property in question; whereby the literal enforcement of the requirements of this chapter would involve practical difficulties.

      (2)   Substantial justice. Granting of a requested variance or appeal would do substantial justice to the applicant as well as to other property owners in the district; or, as an alternative, granting of lesser variance than requested would give substantial relief to the owner of the property involved and be more consistent with justice to other property owners.

      (3)   Public safety and welfare. The requested variance or appeal can be granted in such fashion that the spirit of these regulations will be observed and public safety and welfare secured.

      (4)   Not self-created. The problem and resulting need for the variance has not been self-created by the applicant and/or the applicant's immediate predecessor may or may not be considered depending upon whether the practical difficulty would have existed regardless of the action.

      (5)   No safety hazard or nuisance. The granting of a variance or appeal will not increase the hazard of fire or otherwise endanger public safety or create a public nuisance.

      (6)   Relationship to adjacent land uses. The development permitted upon granting of a variance shall relate harmoniously in a physical and economic sense with adjacent land uses and will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood.

   In evaluating this criterion, consideration shall be given to the established type and pattern of land uses in the area, the natural characteristics of the site and surrounding area, prevailing shopping patterns, convenience of access for patrons, continuity of development and the need for particular services and facilities in specific areas of the Village.

      (7)   Minimum variance necessary. The variance requested is the minimum necessary to permit reasonable use of the land.

      (8)   Use variances shall not be approved in the Village. A use variance shall be defined as any variance which permits a use not specifically permitted by the Zoning Ordinance for the district in which it is located. Any other variance shall be a dimensional variance.

   (e)   To hear and decide in accordance with the provisions of this section, requests for interpretations of the Zoning Ordinance and Map, as the Board may require to preserve and promote the character of the zoning provision or district in question and otherwise promote the purposes of this section and those of the Village's Master Plan. Decisions of the Planning Commission pertaining to special land uses and planned developments shall be subject to the Zoning Board of Appeals review.

(Ord. 106. Passed 12-9-81; Ord. 106-A48. Passed 11-14-07.)

   (a)   Following receipt of a written request concerning a request for a variance, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the request and give notice.

   (b)   The Village Clerk's Office shall publish notice of the request for appeal in a newspaper of general circulation in the Village. Notice shall also be sent by mail or personal delivery to the owners of property for which the appeal is being considered. Notice shall also be sent to all persons to whom real property is assessed within 300 feet of the property and to the occupants of all structures within 300 feet of the property regardless of whether the property or occupant is located in the zoning jurisdiction.

   (c)   The notice shall be given not less than fifteen days before the date the application for appeal will be considered for approval. If the name of the occupant is not known, the term "occupant" may be used in making notification under this subsection. The notice shall do all of the following:

      (1)   Describe the nature of the appeal.

      (2)   Indicate the property that is the subject of the appeal. The notice shall include a listing of all existing street addresses within the property. Street addresses do not need to be created and listed if no such addresses currently exist within the property. If there are no street addresses, other means of identification may be used.

      (3)   State when and where the appeal will be considered.

      (4)   Indicate when and where written comments will be received concerning the appeal.

(Ord. 106-A48. Passed 11-14-07.)

   The concurring vote of a majority of all of the members of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination of the Building Inspector, or to decide in favor of the applicant any matter upon which the Board is required to pass under this Zoning Code, except that to effect any use variance a concurring vote of five of the members of the Board shall be necessary.

(Ord. 106. Passed 12-9-81; Ord. 106-A48. Passed 11-14-07.)

   All decisions and findings of the Zoning Board of Appeals on any appeal or upon any application for a variance, after a public hearing, shall, in all instances, be the final administrative decision and shall be subject to judicial review as by law may be provided. However, under extraordinary circumstances the Board may decide to rehear a previously determined matter.

(Ord. 106. Passed 12-9-81; Ord. 106-A48. Passed 11-14-07.)