Zoning Board of Appeals

Pursuant to Section 23.06 of the Village of Morrow Zoning Ordinance, the members of the Zoning Board of Appeals are:

Laura Briscoe (Term expires December 31, 2024

Susan Robinson (Term expires December 31, 2025)

Joe Stevens (Term expires December 31, 2025)

Alternate: Wyatt R.D. Durham 

Members of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be appointed by Mayor to six year overlapping terms and confirmed by Council.

Morrow's Zoning Board of Appeals meets regularly on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Morrow Municipal Building, 150 East Pike Street, Morrow, Ohio 45152, as necessary.

Section 23.06 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
A. Creation and Membership
The Village Council shall appoint three (3) members to constitute the Zoning Board of Appeals pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 713.11. Said members shall be electors of the Village and shall not be members of the Village Council or Planning Commission. Members are appointed by the Mayor for terms of six years each. Each member shall serve until a qualified successor is appointed. Members of the Board may be removed from office by the Mayor, upon affirmation by the Council, for cause upon written charges and after public hearing. Vacancies shall be filled by appointment by the Mayor and confirmation by the Council for the unexpired term of the member affected. All such members shall serve without compensation.

The Village Council may appoint two alternate members to the Board for terms to be determined by the Village Council. An alternate member shall take the place of an absent member or an abstaining member at any meeting of the Board. An alternate member shall meet the same appointment criteria as a regular member. The alternate member shall have the authority to exercise all voting privileges given to the regular members.

B. Board Proceedings
The Board shall adopt rules necessary to the conduct of its affairs in keeping with the provisions of this Ordinance. An annual organizational meeting will be held each year in the month of January. Meetings shall be held at the call of the chair and at such times as the Board may determine. The chair, or in his absence the acting chair, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses. The Board 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 other official actions, all of which shall be a public record and be immediately filed in the office of the Board and
Council.

C. Elections and Meetings
At the first meeting of each year, the Board shall elect a Chairman and Vice-Chairman from among its members, and it may appoint and fix the compensation of a secretary and such employees as are necessary for the discharge of its duty. Meetings of the board shall be at the call of the Chairman, and at such other times as the Board may determine. All meetings shall be open to the public.
 

D. Oaths and Witnesses
The Board may compel the attendance of witnesses and receive testimony under oath.

E. Board Duties
For the purpose of this Ordinance, the Board shall have the following duties:

          1. To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by an administrative official or by the Zoning Inspector in enforcement of this Ordinance.
          2. To authorize, upon appeal, in specific cases, such variance from the terms of the Zoning Ordinance, as will not be contrary to the public interest, where owing to special conditions a literal enforcement of the provisions of the Ordinance will result in unnecessary hardship, and to that the spirit of the Ordinance shall be observed and substantial justice done. In no case may the Board of Zoning Appeals grant a use not otherwise permitted in the zone in which the variance is sought.
          3. To inexpert the exact location of zoning district boundary lines in question.
          4. To interpret the provisions of this Ordinance in a way to carry out the intent and purpose of the plan, as shown upon the Maps fixing the several Districts accompanying and made a part of this Ordinance where the street layout as shown on the maps aforesaid.
          5. To permit a variation in the yard requirements of any district where there are practical
difficulties or unnecessary hardships in the carrying out of these provisions due to an irregular shape of the lot, topographic or other conditions, provided such variations will not seriously affect any adjoining property or the general welfare.

          6. The Board shall be required to prevent or keep at a minimum all odors, dust, smoke, gas, noise, or similar nuisances in the granting of any permit in the I-1 Light Industrial District.
          7. In handling of all appeals, the Board shall not impair the supply of light and air to adjacent property, increase the hazard from fire, flood and other dangers, diminish the value of adjacent property not impair the public health, safety and general welfare.

The ZBA shall not have the power to grant a variance from the uses of land permitted by this ordinance, nor is the ZBA authorized to consider an appeal of any decision concerning a planned development or a special land use. Notwithstanding these requirements, the ZBA shall have the power to consider variances associated with a special land use site plan which relate to setbacks and dimensional requirements.

F. Duties on Matters of Appeal
It is the intent of this Ordinance that all questions of interpretation and enforcement shall be first presented to the Zoning Inspector, and that such questions shall be presented to the Board only on appeal from the decision of the Zoning Inspector, and that recourse from the decisions of the Board shall be to the courts as provided by law. It is further the intent of this Ordinance that the duties of the Council in connection with this Ordinance shall not include hearing and deciding questions if interpretation and enforcement that may arise. The procedure for deciding such questions shall be as stated in this section and this Ordinance. Under this Ordinance the Council shall have only the duties of considering and adopting or rejecting proposed amendments or the repeal of this Ordinance as provided by law, and of
establishing a schedule of fees and charges. Nothing in this Ordinance shall be interpreted to prevent any official of the Municipality from appealing a decision of the Board to the courts as provided in Chapters 2505 and 2506 of the Ohio Revised Code. Any such appeal shall be made within ten (10) days of the written decision of the Board.