22.38 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
There shall be established and appointed by the Village Council of the Village of Beverly Hills, in accordance with Act 110 of the Public Acts of 2006, as amended, a Zoning Board of Appeals consisting of nine (9) members, each to be appointed for a term of three (3) years; provided, however, that those persons serving the Board of Appeals prior to the adoption hereof are hereby reappointed to the Zoning Board of appeals for the balance of their unexpired terms on the Board of Appeals. One member of the Zoning Board of Appeals may also be a member of the Village Planning Board.
One regular or alternate member of the Zoning Board of Appeals may also be a member of the Village Council. Such a member shall not serve as chairperson of the Zoning Board of Appeals. An employee or contractor of the legislative body may not serve as a member of the zoning board of appeals.
A member of the Zoning Board of Appeals who is also a member of the Village Planning Board or Village Council shall not participate in a public hearing on or vote on the same matter that the member voted on as a member of the Planning Board or the Village Council. However, the member may consider and vote on other unrelated matters involving the same property.
The Village Council may appoint not more than two (2) alternate members for the same term as regular members to the Zoning Board of Appeals. An alternate member may be called as specified to serve as a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals in the absence of a regular member if the regular member will be unable to attend one (1) or more meetings. An alternate member may also be called to serve as a member for the purpose of reaching a decision on a case in which the regular member has abstained for reasons of conflict of interest or due to the fact that the regular member already voted on the same matter as a member of the Planning Board or Village Council. The alternate member appointed shall serve in the case until a final decision is made. The alternate member has the same voting rights as a regular member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, while serving. {Ord. 332; 7-1-09}
Meetings of the Board of Appeals shall be held at the call of the Chairman, and at such other times as the Board may determine. Such Chairman, or in his absence, the Acting Chairman, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall adopt rules and procedures and shall keep records of applications and the action thereon, which shall be a public record. The fees to be charged for appeals shall be set by resolution of the Village Council.
An appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals based in whole or in part on the provisions of this Ordinance may be taken by any person, firm or corporation aggrieved, or by any governmental officer, department, board or bureau affected by any decision of the Building Official. Such appeal shall be taken by filing a notice of appeal with the Zoning Board of Appeals on appropriate forms provided by the Building Official, payment of the required fee, and shall specify the grounds for such appeal. The Building Official shall transmit all papers constituting the record of such appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Upon a hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals any person or party may appear in person, or by agent, or by attorney. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal and give a minimum of five (5) days notice thereof to the parties, including all owners of record of property within three hundred feet (300') of the premises in question, such notice to be delivered personally or by mail addressed to the respective owners at the addresses given in the last assessment roll, and shall decide the same within a reasonable time. The Zoning Board of Appeals may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination as in its opinion ought to be made on the premises, and to that end shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken. The concurring vote of a majority of the members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse an order, requirement, decision, or determination of an administrative official or body, or to decide in favor of the applicant a matter upon which the Board is required to pass under an ordinance, or to effect a variation in an ordinance except that a concurring vote of 2/3 of the members of the Board shall be necessary to grant a variance from uses of land permitted in an ordinance. The decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall not become final until the expiration of five (5) days from the date of entry of such order unless the Board shall find the immediate effect of such order is necessary for the preservation of property or personal rights and shall so certify on the record. The Village Council may authorize the payment, not to exceed five dollars ($5.00) per member for attendance at regular meetings of such Board. {Ord. 264, 6-27-93}
The Zoning Board of Appeals is authorized in those cases where, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provision hereof results in unnecessary hardship and practical difficulty, to approve issuance of a permit containing such variations of the terms hereof or such special requirements or conditions as the Board may impose. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the power to allow variances as will remove existing hardships and practical difficulties, and which are not contrary to the public interest, nor inconsistent with the spirit and intent of this Ordinance, and not injurious to the surrounding neighborhood or that will imperil public safety. The decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall, in absence of any showing of mistake, fraud, misrepresentation or undue influence, be final insofar as the same involves discretion or the finding of facts.
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall not have the power to change the Zone District classification of any property, nor to make any change in the term of this Ordinance, but to act on these matters where this Ordinance provides for an administrative review, interpretation, and to authorize a variance as defined in this Section and the law of the State of Michigan. Said powers include:
a. Administrative Review. To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that there is an error in any order, requirement, permit, decision, or refusal made by the Building Official or any other administrative official in carrying out or enforcing any provisions of this Ordinance.
b. Interpretation of Zoning Map. To hear and decide in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance requests for interpretation of the Zoning Map, and for the decisions on other special questions on which this Ordinance specifically authorized the Zoning Board of Appeals to pass. Any interpretation shall be subject to such conditions as the Zoning Board of Appeals may require to preserve and promote the character of the Zone Districts in question and otherwise promote the purpose of this Ordinance.
c. Variance. To authorize, upon an appeal, a variance from the district applications of the provisions of this Ordinance, where, by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness, shape or area of a specific piece of property on August 31, 1959, or by reason of exceptional topographic conditions of such property, the strict application of the regulations enacted would result in peculiar or exceptional practical difficulties to, or exceptional or undue hardship 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 Ordinance. In granting a variance the Board may attach thereto such conditions regarding the location, character, and other features of the proposed uses as it may deem reasonable in furtherance of the purpose of this Ordinance. A variance shall become null and void if the grantee has not secured a building permit to construct under the variance before one (1) year from the date the variance was granted by the Board.
d. Public Service or Public Utility Building Variance. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the power to permit the erection and use of a building, or an addition to an existing building, of a public service corporation or for public utility purposes, in any Zone District to a greater height or larger area than the Zone District requirements herein established, and permit the location in any Residential Zone District of a noncommercial public utility building or use if the Board shall find such use, building or structure reasonably necessary for public convenience and service, and provided such building, structure or use is designed, erected and landscaped to conform harmoniously with the general architecture and plan of such Residential Zone District.