§ 10. Board of adjustment—Establishment and procedure.

A board of adjustment is hereby established, which shall consist of five members and four alternates to be appointed by the city council, each for a term of two years. Members and alternates of the board of adjustment may be removed from office by the city council when absent from two consecutive meetings without an excuse or for cause upon written charges and after public hearing. Vacancies shall be filled by the city council for the unexpired term of the member affected.

A.

Proceedings of the board of adjustment.

(1)

The board of adjustment shall adopt rules necessary to the conduct of its affairs, elect a chairperson and an acting chairperson, and act in keeping with the provisions of this appendix. Meetings shall be held at the call of the chairperson and at such other times as the board may determine. The chairperson, or in his absence the acting chairperson, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses. All meetings shall be open to the public.

(2)

The board of adjustment shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question, or if absent or failing to vote indicating such fact, and shall keep records of its examinations and all of which shall be immediately filed in the office of the board and shall be public record.

B.

Hearings, appeals and notices. Appeals to the board of adjustment concerning interpretation or administration of this appendix may be taken by any person aggrieved or by an officer, department, board, or bureau of the city affected by the decision of the administrative official. Such appeals shall be taken within a reasonable time, not to exceed 45 days, by filing with the officer from whom the appeal is taken and with the board of adjustment a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof. The officer from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the board all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.

C.

Notification and hearing process. Any request for an appeal, variance or special exception shall require a public hearing before the board. A written notice of the hearing shall be sent to owners of property situated within 200 feet of the exterior boundary of the property with respect to which such appeal, variance or exception is requested ten days prior to public hearing. It shall be sufficient that such written notice is addressed to the owner appearing on the most current tax roll of the city and addressed to such owner at the address stated on said roll. If no owner is stated on the tax roll, or no address appears thereon, the written notice to such property owner shall not be required. The city council and planning and zoning commission shall be informed of any hearing for an appeal, variance or special exception of the zoning or sign ordinance. A processing fee as described in subsection 14 shall be paid to the city in advance of the hearing. In the event the application is withdrawn prior to the mailing of the required written notification or publication in the official newspaper, the fee shall be refunded.

D.

Stay of proceedings. An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the board of adjustment after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with him that, by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In such case proceedings shall not be stayed other than by a restraining order which may be granted by the board of adjustment or by a court of record on application, on notice to the officer from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.