Zoning Code | Procedures | Variance

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Variance
Description: Recognizing that there may be situations where a zoning regulation that if enforced would cause unnecessary hardship to individual landowners, the state legislature established a mechanism to allow a municipality to issue a variance in those instances where a minor deviation would be appropriate to alleviate such hardship without circumventing or undermining the intent of the zoning regulations. Chapter 17.52 of the zoning code describes the requirements and procedures for reviewing a variance application.

Decision-maker(s): Zoning Board of Appeals

Review process:
  1. Pre-submittal meeting. Before submitting an application, the applicant or the applicant's agent may meet with the Zoning Administrator to review applicable regulations and procedures, applicable sections of the Village’s comprehensive plan, and the proposed project.
  2. Submittal of application materials. The applicant submits an application and other required materials to the Zoning Administrator along with the application fee as may be established by the Village Board.
  3. Determination of completeness. The Zoning Administrator reviews the submitted materials to determine if the application is complete. If the application is not complete, the Zoning Administrator will notify the applicant of incomplete or missing requirements.
  4. Public notice. The Zoning Administrator publishes a public notice in the local newspaper; two times in different weeks.
  5. Property owner notice. The Zoning Administrator sends a copy of the public hearing notice to all property owners within 300 feet of the subject property (at least 10 days before the hearing).
  6. Special notice. The Zoning Administrator sends a notice to the clerk of any municipality if the project is located within 1,000 feet of the Village’s municipal boundary and to the regional office of the DNR if the variance relates to floodplain regulations (at least 10 days before the hearing).
  7. Staff report. The Zoning Administrator prepares a staff report and provides a copy to each member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, the applicant, and any other interested person upon request.
  8. Public hearing. The Zoning Board of Appeals conducts a public hearing within 30 days after the application is deemed complete.
  9. Decision. Within 30 days after holding the public hearing, the  Zoning Board of Appeals makes a decision based on the decision criteria to (1) approve the variance, (2) approve the variance with conditions, or (3) deny the variance. If the variance relates to floodplain regulations or shoreland-wetland regulations, final action shall not be taken for 30 days or until the DNR has made its recommendation, whichever comes first.
  10. Final decision document. The Zoning Administrator prepares the decision document as approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals. 
  11. Written decision sent to applicant. The Zoning Administrator sends a copy of the decision to the applicant.
  12. Distribution of decision to others. The Zoning Administrator sends a copy of the decision to the regional office of the DNR if the variance relates to floodplain regulations or shoreland-wetland regulations (within 10 days of the decision).

Note: This description is intended to highlight the key steps in the review procedure, and may not include all of the details. Please refer to the above referenced section of the zoning code for a complete description of the process and related requirements.
 
Application fee: $570
Submittal deadline: Please contact staff for meeting schedule.
Application Materials
document icon Zoning Board of Appeals