The BZA is made up of seven (7) members, appointed to five (5) year terms by the Circuit Court. 

The BZA is authorized to:
(a) hear and decide appeals
(b) grant variances
(c) grant special exceptions
(d) impose conditions on variances and special exceptions regarding location, character, and other features of the proposed structure or use as it may deem necessary in the public interest                     

Filing of applications to the BZA; application fee:
Applications to the Board of Zoning Appeals shall be filed in the Department of Planning & Zoning on approved forms.  Each such application shall be accompanied by a check for the fee established by the Board of Supervisors, payable to the County Treasurer and shall provide written verification from the County Treasurer that all delinquent real estate taxes on the subject property have been paid in full.

Fee Schedule:

BZA VARIANCE:
    Individual Residential        $    600
    Other                                   $ 1,375

BZA SPECIAL EXCEPTION:
    Individual Residential        $    600
    Other                                   $ 1,375

BZA APPEAL:
    Individual Residential        $    600
    Other                                   $ 1,900

VARIANCES:                                       Variance Application Packet
No variance shall be authorized by the BZA, unless it finds:
(1) That the strict application of the provisions of this chapter would produce undue hardship;
(2) That such hardship is not shared generally by other properties in the same zoning district and the same vicinity;
(3) That the authorization of such variance shall not be of substantial detriment to adjacent property and that the character of the district will not be changed by the granting of the variance;
(4) That the condition or situation of the property concerned or the intended use of the property is not of so general or recurring a nature as to make reasonably practicable the formulation of a general regulation to be adopted as an amendment to this chapter.

Should an application for a variance be denied, the BZA shall not consider substantially the same application for at least one (1) year. The one year shall be counted from the date of the BZA's denial.

SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS:                       Special Exception Application Packet
No special exceptions shall be authorized by the BZA, unless it finds that:
(1) The use shall not tend to change the character and established pattern of development of the proposed use;
(2) The use shall be in harmony with the uses permitted by right under a zoning permit in the zoning district and shall not affect adversely the use of neighboring properties;
(3) The location and height of buildings, the location, nature and height of walls and fences nature and extent of landscaping on the site shall be such that the use will not hinder or discourage the appropriate development and use of adjacent land and buildings or impair the value thereof;
(4) The use shall not affect the health or safety of persons residing or working in the neighborhood of the proposed use;
(5) The use shall not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to property or to improvements to the neighborhood;
(6) The use shall be in accord with the purposes of this chapter and the Comprehensive Plan of the County.

Any use, building or activity legally in existence on the effective date of the Zoning Ordinance, shall not require a special exception, so long as such existing use, building or activity is not expanded or enlarged.

APPEALS TO BZA GENERALLY:                             Appeal Application Packet
(a) The Board of Zoning Appeals shall hear and decide appeals from any order, requirement, decision or determination made by an Administrative Officer in the administration or enforcement of this chapter.

(b) An appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals may be taken by any person aggrieved, or by an officer, department, board or bureau of the County affected, by any decision of the Zoning Administrator.  Such appeal shall be taken within thirty (30) days after the decision appealed from, by filing, with the Zoning Administrator, a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof.  The Zoning Administrator shall forthwith transmit to the Board of Zoning Appeals all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed was taken.  An appeal shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the Zoning Administrator certifies to the Board of Zoning Appeals that, by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay, would in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property, in which case proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals or by a court of record, on application and on notice to the Zoning Administrator and for good cause shown.

(c) The Board of Zoning Appeals shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of an application or appeal, give public notice thereof, as well as due notice to the parties of interest and decide the same within sixty (60) days.

(d) In exercising its powers, the Board of Zoning Appeals may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify, the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from.  A favorable vote of four (4) members of the BZA shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement or determination of any administrative official or to decide in favor of the applicant. 

APPEALS FROM BZA: