Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA)
This seven-member board hears and determines appeals for exceptions
to and variations from the City's Zoning and Building Codes to assure
harmony with municipal ordinances and regulations. Members serve four
year terms and meet the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m., Municipal
Center. If you have any questions about BZA, contact the Community Development
Department at (440) 974-5740.
Current
BZA Agenda
Members:
Nancy Sperhac, Chairman
Glenn McKinney, Vice-Chairman
Nancy Donovan Farina
Bruce Landeg
Curtis Lau
Charles Pinkerman
Bernard Urban
Board of Building & Zoning Appeals Rules of Procedure
The Board of Building and Zoning Appeals shall be governed, and all
appeals or applications thereto for relief shall be governed, by these
rules:
I. OFFICERS
1. Chairman
2. Vice Chairman
3. Secretary
4. Administrative Assistant
5. Recording Secretary
The Board annually shall elect from its members a Chairman, Vice Chairman,
and Secretary, who may succeed themselves for a term of approximately
one year commencing with the first meeting in January and continuing
until the first meeting in January of the next succeeding year.
The Administrative Assistant shall be appointed by the City Manager
and the Recording Secretary shall be appointed by the Chairman and shall
keep the minutes of the meetings and records of the Board.
II. MEETINGS
1. Quorum and Voting
Four members of the board shall for all purposes, except consideration
of a variance, constitute a quorum and five members shall constitute
a quorum for a variance. The concurring vote of four members shall be
necessary to reverse, modify, or affect any order, requirement, decision
or determination of any request or application, except the concurring
vote of five members shall be necessary in the case of variance. (See
Section 150.154 M.C.O.)
2. Time of Meeting
(a) Regular meetings shall be held at 7:00 PM on the second Tuesday
of each month or such other hour as the Chairman may designate. The
first regular meeting in January shall constitute the annual organizational
meeting of the Board.
(b) Special meetings may be called by the Chairman at any time provided
at least 48 hours notice shall be given each member. The Chairman shall
be required to call a special meeting within ten days of receipt of
a written request from any two Board members.
3. Cancellation of Meeting Whenever there is no pending or pertinent
business to be considered by the Board at a regular meeting, the Chairman
may dispense with such meeting by notifying each member.
4. Order of Business The order of business shall be:
a. Roll Call
b. Approval of Minutes
c. Action on Tabled Cases
d. Public Hearings
e. Action on New Cases
f. Other Business
g. Adjournment
III. APPLICATION
a. No application for relief shall be entertained unless it is filed
in the office of the Administrative Assistant of the Board on a form
to be provided by the Board, containing all data required in such form.
b. The form of the application for relief shall be approved by the
Board and may, from time to time, be amended by the Board.
c. The form shall clearly describe the basic information required to
file an appeal and briefly describe the rights of the applicant in the
appeal process.
IV. HEARINGS
The hearing of each case shall be divided into two parts: public hearing
which shall be followed by a hearing on the merits:
1. Conduct of Public Hearing
The Board shall conduct a public hearing before conducting a hearing
on the merits of the case. At the beginning of the public hearing the
Chairman shall inform the members of the public in attendance of the
nature of the relief sought by reading or summarizing the notice thereof.
The Chairman shall also briefly describe the rights of the applicant.
To more fully acquaint the public with the nature of the case the Chairman
may call upon the applicant or City representative to comment upon same.
Any person wishing to be heard shall give his or her name and address.
At the time designated by the Chairman, any person wishing to be heard,
shall be recognized by the Chairman to speak for or against the relief
sought. The Chairman shall regulate the hearing so that all comments
shall be precise, to the point and non-repetitive.
2. Conduct at Hearing on the Merits
a. The applicant shall have the burden of proof and be required to go
forward with evidence in support thereof.
b. All evidence shall be taken in the presence of the Board but the
fact that any Board member is not present throughout the entire hearing
shall not disqualify said member from voting on the applicant for relief.
c. The Chairman or his designee shall be the sole judgement of the
relevancy and materiality of the evidence and the competency of witnesses.
Strict conformity to the legal rules of evidence shall not be necessary.
The Chairman may receive the evidence of witnesses by affidavit or written
report and the Board shall give it such weight as it deems it is entitled
to after consideration of any objections made to its admission.
d. The Chairman or his designee may administer oaths or affirmations
to all witnesses, at the request of the applicant, City or Board.
e. The Board may continue the hearing of the case from date to date
after the public hearing has been held. The Board may by "motion to
table" continue the matter.
f. Both the applicant and the City shall have the right and power:
1. To present its position, arguments and contentions;
2. To offer and examine witnesses and present
evidence in support thereof;
3. To cross examine witnesses purporting to refute
either's position,
arguments or contentions;
4. To offer evidence, to refute evidence and testimony
offered in
opposition to its position, arguments or contentions;
5. To proffer any such evidence into the record
if the admission
thereof is denied by the Chairman.
3. Subpoena
a. Subpoenas, as authorized by the State Code and 150.156 Mentor Code
of Ordinances shall be upon a form approved by the Board. Copies of
same shall be made available to the applicant.
b. The Chairman, or in his absence the acting chairman, shall sign
subpoenas which shall be served and executed by any person authorized
to serve subpoenas, and in the manner required, by Rule 45 Ohio Rules
of Civic Procedure. The return of such subpoena shall be filed with
the Administrative Assistant to the Board.
4. Consultants
In the event that the Board determines that it requires a report or
testimony from a consultant per Section 150.158 of Mentor Code of Ordinances,
it shall notify the applicant of the cost thereof as soon as possible.
The applicant shall deposit the cost thereof with the City Finance Director
before the Board decides the case. Failure to deposit the cost within
the time required by the Board shall result in an automatic dismissal
of the appeal.
5. Costs
The application shall be accompanied by a fee as follows:
- Variances: $30
- Appeals: $30
- Request to declare lots buildable:
$30 for one to three contiguous lots and/or $30 plus $5 for each contiguous
lot in excess of three lots.
6. Jurisdiction
At any time before, during or after the public hearing or hearing of
the merits, the Board may dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
7. Time Set for Hearing
The application shall be set for hearing on the agenda of the Board
within a reasonable time taking into consideration the amount of time
estimated to hear the case and other matters already pending on the
agenda. The Board may set special hearing dates in addition to the regular
hearing dates.
8. Agenda
The agenda shall be mailed or delivered to the Board members so that
they will have them within three days prior to the hearing date. Failure
of delivery shall not invalidate any action taken by the Board.
9. Amendments to Application
In the event that the Board determines that a requested amendment to
an application would render it substantially different from the original
application, it may require an additional pubic hearing, with notice
by publication, at applicant's expense.
10. Decision
If the applicant requests conclusions of fact supporting the Boards'
decision, the Board shall file same with the transcript of the case.
Such a request must be in writing and filed no later than ten days after
the decision is mailed to the applicant. The Board shall have a reasonable
time within which to prepare said conclusions of fact.
11. Transcript
If the applicant or City desires a transcript, they may provide a court
reporter and cause a record to be made. The party requesting same shall
pay the cost thereof. Any party desiring a copy of any transcript shall
be provided with it by the reporter upon payment thereof, based upon
the usual charge made for a copy of a deposition.
12. Witness Fees
Witness fees shall be in the same amount as now or hereafter provided
for witnesses for trial in the Common Pleas Court of Lake County, Ohio.
(The fees shall be deposited with the Finance Director by the party
seeking the attendance of said witnesses prior to the issuance of any
subpoenas therefore.)
13. Filing Amendments
These rules may be amended at any regular meeting by the affirmative
vote of not less than a majority of a quorum but in no case less than
three voting members, provided that such amendment has been presented
in writing to each member of the Board at least 48 hours preceding the
meeting at which the vote is taken.
14. Delivery of Rules to Applicant
A copy of these rules shall be made available at no cost to each applicant
upon the filing of an application for relief.
ADOPTED: September 9, 1980
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