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Zoning Appeals Board

Establishment of zoning board of appeals

A zoning board of appeals is hereby established. Said board shall consist of seven (7) members, who shall be residents of North Charleston and shall be appointed by the mayor with the approval of a majority of city council for overlapping terms of three (3) years. Any vacancy in the membership shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the initial appointment. Members shall serve without pay but may be reimbursed for any expenses incurred while representing the board. A member may be removed for cause at the request of the mayor with approval by a majority of city council. None of the members shall hold any other public office or position within the municipality or county.

Board of zoning appeal; officers, rules and procedures

• a)   The board of appeals shall elect a chairman from its members who shall serve for one year or until reelected or until their successors are elected. The board shall appoint a secretary, who may be a city officer, an employee of the city, a member of the planning commission or a member of the board of appeals. Meetings of the board must be held at the call of the chairman and at such other times as the board may determine. Meetings shall be open to the public and public notice of all meetings of the board of appeals shall be provided by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality or county. In cases involving variances or special exceptions, conspicuous notice shall be posted on or adjacent to the property affected with at least one such notice being visible from each public thoroughfare that abuts the property. The chairman, or in his or her absence, the acting chairman, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses by subpoena. The board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question, or in the absence of failing to vote, indicating that fact, and shall keep records of its examinations and other official actions, all of which must be immediately filed in the office of the board and must be a public record.
• (b)   Decisions of the board of appeals. The concurring vote of three (3) members of the board of appeals shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of the zoning administrator or to decide in favor of the applicant on any matter upon which it is required to pass under the article or to affect any variation of this article.
• (c)   Appeals to the board of zoning appeals shall be initiated by filing with the zoning administrator and with the board of appeals notice of said appeal specifying the grounds thereof and accompanied by an application fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) to cover administrative costs (advertising). The zoning administrator shall forthwith transmit to the board all papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.

Powers of the board of appeals; variances; special exceptions; stays; hearings; decisions and orders

• (a)   The board of appeals has the following powers:
  • (1)   To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in an order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative official in the enforcement of the zoning ordinance;
  • (2)   To hear and decide appeals for variance from the requirements of the zoning ordinance when strict application of the provisions of the ordinance would result in unnecessary hardship. A variance may be granted in an individual case of unnecessary hardship if the board makes and explains in writing the following findings:
    • a.   There are extraordinary and exceptional conditions pertaining to the particular piece of property;
    • b.   These conditions do not generally apply to other property in the vicinity;
    • c.   Because of these conditions, the application of the ordinance to the particular piece or property would effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict the utilization of the property; and
    • d.   The authorization of a variance will not be of substantial detriment to adjacent property or to the public good, and the character of the district will not be harmed by the granting of the variance.
      • (i)   The board may not grant a variance the effect of which would be to allow the establishment of a use not otherwise permitted in a zoning district, to extend physically a nonconforming use of land, or to change the zoning district boundaries shown on the official zoning map. The fact that property may be utilized more profitably, should a variance be granted, may not be considered grounds for a variance. Other requirements may be prescribed by the zoning ordinance.
        A local governing body by ordinance may permit or preclude the granting of a variance for a use of land, a building or a structure that is prohibited in a given district, and if it does permit such a variance, it may require the affirmative vote of two-thirds ( 2/3) of the local adjustment board members present and voting. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the local governing body may overrule the decision of the local board of adjustment concerning a use variance.
      • (ii)   In granting a variance, the board may attach to it such conditions regarding the location, character, or other features of the proposed building, structure, or use as the board may consider advisable to protect established property values in the surrounding area, or to promote the public health, safety or general welfare;
  • (3)   To permit uses by special exception subject to the terms and conditions for the uses set forth for such uses in the zoning ordinance; and
  • (4)   Appeals to the board may be taken by any person aggrieved or by any officer, department, board or bureau of the municipality or county. The appeal must be taken within a reasonable time, as provided by the zoning ordinance or rules of the board, or both, by filing with the officer from whom the appeal is taken and with the board of appeals notice of appeal specifying the grounds of it. If no time is provided, the appeals must be taken within thirty (30) days from the date the appealing party has received actual notice of the action from which the appeal is taken. The officer from whom the appeal is taken immediately shall transmit to the board all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.
  • (5)   To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged that there is error in an order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative official in the enforcement of the Olde North Charleston Historic District and/or Neighborhood Conservation District.
  • (6)   To review applications for certain work at sites within the Olde North Charleston Historic District and/or Neighborhood Conservation District in order to determine whether the specific proposed activity conforms to the principles and requirements of the Historic District and/or Conservation District.
• (b)   An appeal stays all legal proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the board, after the notice of appeal has been filed with him, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life and property. In that case, proceedings may 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.
• (c)   The board shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal or other matter referred to it, and give at least fifteen (15) days' public notice of it in a newspaper of general circulation in the community, as well as due notice to the parties in interest, and decide the same within a reasonable time. At the hearing any party may appear in person or by agent or by attorney.
• (d)   In exercising the above power, the board of appeals may, in conformity with the provisions of this chapter, reverse or affirm, wholly or in part, or may modify the order, requirements, decision, or determination, and to that end shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken and may issue or direct the issuance of a permit. The board in the execution of the duties specified in this chapter may subpoena witnesses and in case of contempt may certify this fact to the circuit court having jurisdiction.
• (e)   All final decisions and order of the board must be in writing and be permanently filed in the office of the board as a public record. All finds of fact and conclusions of law must be separately stated in final decisions or orders of the board which must be delivered to parties of interest by certified mail.