ORDINANCE
NO. 451
AN
ORDINANCE CREATING A BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT FOR THE CITY OF GRANITE SHOALS, TEXAS,
AND PRESCRIBING ITS PURPOSE, DUTIES AND AUTHORITY; PRESCRIBING BOARD OF
ADJUSTMENT MEMBERS; DEFINING MEMBER TERMS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND REPEALING
ALL OTHER ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SECTION I: PURPOSE
A. Pursuant to Section 9.05 of the City
Charter and the Texas Local Government Code, there is hereby created a Board of
Adjustment (“Board”) to accomplish the following purposes to:
1.
conduct
public hearings regarding variances to City’s Ordinance No. 409 (the “Zoning
Ordinance”) and Ordinance No. 337B (the
“Sign Ordinance”);
2.
interpret
the intent of the Zoning Map where uncertainty exists;
3.
rule
on the correctness of the City’s Building Official's interpretation of the
Zoning and Sign Ordinances;
4.
review
and initiate action to bring about the discontinuance of a nonconforming use;
5.
review
and rule on those applications for special exceptions to use or develop
property; and
6.
review and rule on appeals by any person affected by a decision of
any officer, department, commission or board of the City.
SECTION II: MEMBERS, ORGANIZATION AND MEETINGS
B. Members. The Board shall consist of five (5) property
owners or residents who are appointed by the City Council to serve a two (2)
year term which shall expire on December 31st. For the initial appointments to the Board,
three (3) of the regular members shall be appointed for two (2) year terms and
two (2) regular members shall initially be appointed for one (1) year terms,
and thereafter all members shall serve for a two (2) year term. In addition, the City Council:
1.
may
appoint two (2) alternate members of the Board, who shall serve in the absence
of one or more of the regular members, and who shall serve the same period as
the regular members, and any vacancy shall be filled in the same manner and
they shall be subject to removal the same as the regular members;
2.
remove
members for cause upon written charges and after public hearing; and
3.
fill vacancies for the expired or unexpired term of any member, whose
position becomes vacant for any cause, in the same manner as the original
appointment was made. Board members may
be appointed to succeed themselves.
C. Organization. All newly appointed members of the Board shall
be sworn in before participating in any meeting of the Board.
1.
The
Board shall hold an organizational meeting in January of each year and shall
elect a Chair, Vice-Chair and a Secretary.
2.
The
Board shall adopt rules to govern its proceedings that are consistent with this
ordinance, Charter and state law.
D. Meetings. Meetings of the Board shall be held at the
call of the Chair and at such other times as the Board may determine. In addition:
1.
the
Chair, or in the Chair’s absence, the Vice-Chair, may administer oaths and compel
the attendance of witnesses;
2.
all
meetings of the Board shall be open to the public;
3.
a
quorum is four (4) or more members;
4.
all
members present, including the Chairman, shall vote on every motion;
5.
any
member present and refusing to vote shall be entered in the minutes of such
meeting as voting in the affirmative, provided however, that a member shall not
vote upon the consideration of any matters involving his own official conduct
or where his financial interest is involved, in which event such member shall
give their reasons for not voting and such reasons shall be taken and recorded
and such minutes shall constitute a public record;
6.
the
Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member
for each action taken and shall keep records of its examinations and other
official actions, all of which shall be filed with the City Secretary within
fifteen (15) business days from the date of the meeting; and
7.
the Chair shall cause a report to be submitted to the City Council (and a
copy submitted to the Planning and Zoning Chair), based on the minutes, not
later than three (3) weeks after each meeting.
SECTION III.
AUTHORITY AND DUTIES
A. City Council Not to Hear
Appeals. The Board is the entity which will hear any
appeals of decisions of officers, departments or boards of the City. The City Council shall not hear appeals, and
any references in the Zoning Ordinance to appeals to the City Council,
including Section V.5, shall hereafter mean appeals to the Board.
B. Zoning,
Building and Sign Issues. When, in
its judgment, the public convenience and welfare will be substantially served
and the appropriate use of the neighboring property will not be substantially
or permanently injured, the Board of Adjustment in specific cases, after public
notice and public hearing and subject to appropriate conditions and safeguards,
may exercise the following powers:
1. to hear and decide appeals where it is
alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination
made by an administrative official in the enforcement of the Zoning Ordinance or
Sign Ordinance or any amendments thereto;
2. to hear and decide
special exceptions to the terms of the Zoning Ordinance or Sign Ordinance upon
which the Board is required to pass under such ordinance;
3. to authorize in specific cases such variance
from the terms of the Zoning Ordinance or Sign Ordinance as will not be contrary
to the public interest, where, owing to special conditions, a literal
enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance will result in unnecessary
hardship, and so that the spirit of the ordinance shall be observed and
substantial justice done;
4. to require the discontinuance of
nonconforming uses under any plan whereby the full value of the structure can
be amortized within a definite period of time, taking into consideration the
general character of the neighborhood and the necessity for all property to
conform to the regulations of this ordinance, and having due regard for the
property rights of the persons affected when considered in the light of the
public welfare and the character of the area surrounding the designated
nonconforming use and the conservation and preservation of property; and
5. on its own motion or
upon cause presented by interested property owners, inquire into the existence,
continuation or maintenance of any nonconforming use within the City.
C. Appeals of Other City
Decisions. The Board may hear any appeal by any person
aggrieved or by an officer, department or board of the municipality affected by
any decisions of the administrative officer.
D. Procedure to Institute
Appeals. Appeals shall be taken within fifteen
(15) days after the decision has been rendered by the administrative officer,
by filing with the officer from whom the appeal is taken and with the Board, a
notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof. The officer from whom the
appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the Board all the papers
constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.
E. Effect of Appeal. An appeal shall stay all proceedings
of the action appealed from, unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken
certifies to the Board, after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with
him that by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in the
officer’s opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In such case,
proceedings shall not be stayed, otherwise than by a restraining order which
may be granted by the Board or by a court of record on application on notice to
the officer from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.
SECTION 4.
HEARINGS AND
ACTION BY BOARD.
A. Notice of hearing. The Board shall hold a public
hearing on all appeals made to it after public notice thereof and written
notice of all such public hearings shall be sent to the applicant and, if the
hearing relates to real property, to all other persons who are owners of real
property lying within two hundred (200) feet of the property on which the
appeal is made; such notice shall be given not less than five (5) days before
the date set for hearing to all property owners as the ownership appears on the
last City tax roll. Such notice may be served by depositing the same properly
addressed and postage paid in the United States Post Office. The applicant
shall bear the expense of giving notice.
B.
Procedure.
At a public hearing, any interested party may appear in person or by attorney.
The burden of proof shall be on the applicant to establish the necessary facts
to justify the action of the Board on any appeal. Any special exception or
variance granted or authorized by the Board under the provisions of the city’s
Zoning Ordinance shall authorize the issuance of a building permit for a period
of ninety (90) days from the date of the favorable action of the Board unless
said Board shall in its action approve a longer period of time or prior to the
expiration of the permit shall grant a longer period and so show such specific
longer period in the minutes of its action. If the building permit shall not
have been issued within said ninety (90) day period or such extended period as
the Board may specifically grant, then the special exception or variance shall
be deemed to have been waived and all rights thereunder
terminated. Such terminating and waiver shall be without prejudice to a
subsequent appeal to the Board in accordance with regulations herein
contained.
C. Actions of the board.
(1) In exercising
its powers, the Board may, in conformity with the provisions of the Statutes of
the State of Texas as existing or hereafter amended, revise or affirm, wholly
or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination
appealed from and make such order, requirement, decision or determination as
ought to be made and shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the
appeal is taken including the power to impose reasonable conditions to be
complied with by the applicant.
(2)
The concurring vote of four (4) members of the Board shall be necessary
to revise any order, requirement, decision or determination of any such
administrative official, or to decide in favor of the application on any matter
upon which it is required to pass under this ordinance or to affect any
variance in said ordinance.
Administrative and procedural matters shall require a simple majority
vote of the members present.
(3) A Board member shall be
disqualified from voting whenever the member has a personal or a monetary
interest in the property under appeal, or that the member will be directly
affected by the decision of the Board. A member may also disqualify himself or
herself from voting whenever any applicant, or applicant’s agent, has sought to
influence the vote of the member on the application, other than in the public
hearing
Section 5. Fees for appeals to the
board of adjustment.
The staff
of the City is directed to collect a base fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00)
for appeals to the Board of Adjustment and an additional fee of fifty dollars
($50.00) for each variance requested in addition to one variance.
SECTION 6.
SEVERABILITY.
If any
section, paragraph, subdivision, clause, phrase or provision of this Ordinance
shall be adjudged invalid or held unconstitutional, the same shall not affect
the validity of this Ordinance as a whole or any part of the provisions
thereof, other than the part so decided to be invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 6. REPEALER.
All
ordinances in conflict with this Ordinance are hereby repealed.
PASSED AND APPROVED THIS 10th DAY OF JANUARY, 2006.
______________________________
Frank
M. Reilly, Mayor
City
of
ATTEST:
______________________________
Ronda Reichle
City Secretary