§ 411. Variances.

(a)

A variance is a permit, issued by the planning and zoning commission, which allows construction or maintenance of a building or structure in a way that varies from requirements for the district in which the property is located. A variance may be granted only in an individual case where unnecessary or undue hardship would result if all of the requirements of this section were applied stringently to a particular piece of property. Unnecessary or undue hardship means that owing to conditions peculiar to the property and not as a result of any action on the part of the property owner, a permitted use of a lot is not reasonable if all of the requirements of this section are to be met.

(b)

A hardship may exist for medical reasons which would permit the temporary placement of a manufactured home, meeting applicable development standards, on the same parcel as the original principal dwelling. Such temporary dwelling shall be placed behind and within 300 feet of the principal dwelling whenever possible. Such temporary dwelling shall provide living quarters for an infirmed family member or provide living quarters for a family member or certified/registered assisted living employee to aid in the care of one or more infirmed family members living in the original principal dwelling. Variances approved for medical hardship cases shall be reviewed annually by the zoning administrator. When the medical hardship ceases to exist, the owner of the principal dwelling shall notify the zoning administrator. Such manufactured home shall be removed within 30 days, or subject the owner of the principal dwelling to fines and penalties as outlined in section 418.

(c)

With the exception of a medical hardship variance, a variance may be granted only for permitted uses in the zoning district in which the property in question is located. (For example, a two-family dwelling would not be allowed to be placed in an R-15 district under a variance).

(d)

Where a variance is granted for a construction activity requiring a building permit, the building permit must be obtained within 12 months of the issuance of the variance. Otherwise, the variance expires after 12 months.

(e)

The planning and zoning commission will consider the following standards in arriving at a decision on the variance:

(1)

Will the variance cause substantial detriment to the public good or impair the purposes of this section?

(2)

Is the spirit of this section observed and the public safety and welfare secured?

(3)

Is the hardship related to conditions peculiar to the property and not a result of any action of the property owner?

(f)

The zoning administrator shall have the power to grant administrative variances from the development standards of this section where, in the opinion of the zoning administrator, the intent of the ordinance can be achieved and equal performance obtained by granting a variance. The authority to grant such variances shall be limited to variances from the following requirements:

(1)

Front yard or yard adjacent to public street setback: variance not to exceed 20 percent of the setback in the applicable zoning district.

(2)

Side yard setback: variance not to exceed 20 percent of the setback in the applicable zoning district.

(3)

Rear yard setback: variance not to exceed 20 percent of the setback in the applicable zoning district.

(4)

Height of building: variance not to exceed 20 percent of the setback in the applicable zoning district.

(5)

Extension of variance or conditional use for a construction activity requiring a building permit: variance to grant a maximum of two one-year extensions of the time limits in subsections 411(d) and 413(d) if the variance or conditional use is for a project requiring multiple building permits and at least one of the permits has been obtained and construction has begun under that permit.

(6)

Parking spaces: variance not to exceed ten percent of required in applicable zoning district.

(7)

Lot size: variance not to exceed five percent of the lot size in the applicable zoning district (minor subdivisions only - as determined by the subdivision ordinance).

(8)

Lot width: variance not to exceed ten percent of the lot width in the applicable zoning district (minor subdivisions only - as determined by the subdivision ordinance).

(9)

Minor amendments to conditions of approval established by the planning and zoning commission.

(Amd. of 11-6-07(3))

Editor's note

An amendment adopted Nov. 6, 2007(3), enacted provisions designated as §§ 409—414, and have been treated as superseding the former §§ 410—414, which pertained to similar subject matter and derived from an ordinance adopted April 3, 2001; an ordinance adopted May 1, 2001; an amendment adopted June 4, 2002(1); an amendment adopted Nov. 5, 2002; an amendment adopted Aug. 3, 2004; and an amendment adopted April 5, 2005(3).