ACTION REQUESTED:
Title
Communication from the City Manager and the Director of Community Development with a Recommendation from the Planning & Zoning Commission and Staff to Adopt the following:
A. An ORDINANCE Amending Appendix B of the CODE of the City of Peoria Relating to VARIATIONS;
B. An ORDINANCE Amending Appendix C of the CODE of the City of Peoria Relating to VARIATIONS.
Body
BACKGROUND:
At the February Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting, Deputy Corporation Counsel Sonni Williams held an annual training session with the commissioners. During the discussion, it was noted that the standards for variations currently found in the Zoning Ordinance and Land Development Code are different than the standards found in the Illinois Municipal code. There is even a difference between the variations standards of the Zoning Ordinance and the Land Development Code.
The State of IL requires a practical difficulty or particular hardship and evidence that all three of the following criteria are met in order to grant a variance:
1) The property in question cannot yield a reasonable return if permitted to be used only under the conditions allowed by the regulations in that zone; and
2) The plight of the owner is due to unique circumstances; and
3) The variation, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the locality.
The above standards are currently included in Peoria's regulations, however; in contrast, Peoria's variance regulations require only one of nine standards of the Zoning Ordinance, or one of ten standards of the Land Development Code, to be met to grant a variance.
Following discussion, ZBA commissioners requested a "tightening up" of the City's standards. They agreed that this would reduce subjectivity, improve decision making, and provide clarity of regulations for both the applicant and the commissioners, and better align with the Illinois Municipal Code and other IL municipalities.
In addition to the State's regulations, Staff gathered variance regulations from other IL communities such as Bloomington, Rockford, East Peoria, Aurora, Champaign, Westmont, and Springfield. A majority of these municipalities had variance regulations similar to the State of IL. In each community, all standards listed in their Codes were required to be met.
Draft ordinances for both Appendix B, the Zoning Ordinance and Appendix C the Land Development Code were presented to the ZBA at their March and April meetings. The proposed ordinances re-organize the current regulations as follows:
· Reduce the number of criteria to three, requiring all to be met.
· Revise a criteria to eliminate "economic" return and replace with a reasonable return, meaning the property is unable to yield any form of return not just economic.
· Utilize the remaining six previously listed standards as facts for the purpose of implementing the three required criteria.
The ZBA voted to approve and forward the ordinances to the Planning & Zoning Commission for review. The Planning & Zoning Commission concurred and voted to approve.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: N/A
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS (at the Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning & Zoning Commission meetings): None
PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION ACTION: The Planning & Zoning Commission found that the request met the Findings of Fact and voted 7 to 0 TO APPROVE.
IMPACT IF APPROVED: The standards for variations will be reduced to three criteria, all which must be met in order to grant a variance. Six facts shall remain in the regulations to be used by the ZBA and Staff in the implementation of the criteria and making recommendations.
The result will be easier application of the criteria, clearer requirements for a variance for both the ZBA commissioners and applicants, consistency with regulations of neighboring municipalities, with no impact on the capacity to obtain a variance.
IMPACT IF DENIED: The standards for variations will remain unchanged. Variance regulations will remain difficult to administer with less clarity for the ZBA and citizens.
ALTERNATIVES: N/A
EEO CERTIFICATION NUMBER: N/A
WHICH OF THE GOALS IDENTIFIED IN THE COUNCIL'S 2014 - 2029 STRATEGIC PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION ADVANCE?
1. Financially Sound City Government, Effective City Organization
WHICH CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S) FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DOES THIS RECOMMENDATION IMPLEMENT?
1. Have an efficient government.
DEPARTMENT: Community Development