Section 175-139 POWERS OF BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS.
The
Board of Zoning Appeals shall have the following powers and
duties:
A.
To hear and decide appeals from any order,
requirement, decision and determination made by an administrative
officer
in the administration or enforcement of this chapter.
B.
To authorize, upon appeal in specific cases, such variance
from the terms of the chapter as will not be contrary to the public
interest
when, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the
provisions will
result in unnecessary hardship, provided that the spirit of the chapter
shall
be observed and substantial justice done, as follows:
1.
When a property owner can show that his
property was acquired in good faith and where, by reason of the
exceptional
narrowness, shallowness, size or shape of a specific piece of
property at
the time of the effective date of the chapter, or where, by
reason of
exceptional topographic conditions or other extraordinary situation or
condition of the piece of property, or of the condition, situation, or
development of property immediately adjacent thereto, the strict
application of the terms of the chapter would effectively prohibit or
unreasonably restrict the use of the property, or where the Board is
satisfied, upon the evidence heard by it, that the granting of
such
variance will alleviate a clearly demonstrable hardship approaching
confiscation,
as distinguished from a special privilege or convenience sought by the
applicant, provided that all variances shall be in harmony with the
intended
spirit and purpose of the chapter.
(Ord.
No. Z-11-00Amended “1”
9-25-00-Effective Upon Passage)
2. No such variance shall be authorized
by the Board, unless it finds:
a.
That
the strict application of the chapter would produce undue hardship.
b.
That such hardship is not shared generally
by other properties in the same zoning district and the same
vicinity.
c.
That the authorization of such variance
will not be of substantial detriment to adjacent property and that the
character of the district will not be changed by the granting of the
variance.
3.
No such variance shall be authorized except
after notice and hearing as required by Section 15. 2-2204 of the Code
of
Virginia, as amended.
(Ord.
No. Z-11-00Amended Virginia
Code References 9-25-00-Effective Upon Passage)
4.
No variance shall be authorized
unless the Board finds that the condition or situation of the property
concerned or the intended use of the property is not of so
general or
recurring a nature as to make reasonably practicable the formulation of
a
general regulation to be adopted as an amendment to the chapter.
5. In
authorizing
a variance, the Board may impose such conditions regarding the
location, character and other features of the proposed structure or use
as it
may deem necessary in the public interest and may require a guaranty or
bond to
insure that the conditions imposed are being and will continue to be
complied
with.
6. In
the
event that a variance is not granted, the same variance
application, or a
variance application that is substantially the same, may not be
submitted
to the Board for consideration for a period of one (1) year from the
date on
which the variance request was denied.
(Ord.
No. Z-10-89
Added “6” 11-13-89-Effective Upon Passage)
C.
To hear and decide appeals from the decision of the Zoning
Administrator.
D.
To hear and decide applications for interpretation of the
district map where there is any uncertainty as to the location of a
district
boundary. Public hearings after appropriate notice must be held
prior to
such adjustments. The Board shall not have the power to change
substantially
the locations of district boundaries as established by this chapter.
The
Board shall not have the power to rezone property.