Chapter 17.52 - VARIANCES

17.52.010 - Authorization to grant or deny variances.

The city council may authorize variances from the requirements of this title where it can be shown that, owing to special and unusual circumstances related to a specific piece of property, the literal interpretation of this title would cause undue or unnecessary hardship, except that no variance shall be granted to allow the use of property for purposes not authorized within the zone in which the proposed use would be located. In granting a variance the city council may attach conditions which it finds necessary to protect the best interests of the surrounding property or neighborhood and to otherwise achieve the purposes of this title.

(Ord. 5-1983 § 13.01)

17.52.020 - Conditions for granting of variance.

No variance shall be granted by the city council unless it can be shown that all of the following conditions exist:

A. Exceptional or extraordinary conditions applying to the property that do not apply generally to other properties in the same zone or vicinity, which conditions are a result of lot size or shape, topography, or other circumstances over which the applicant has no control.

B. The variance is necessary for the preservation of a property right of the applicant substantially the same as is possessed by owners of other property in the same zone or vicinity.

C. The authorization of the variance shall not be materially detrimental to the purposes of this title, be injurious to the property in the zone or vicinity in which the property is located, or be otherwise detrimental to the objectives of any municipal development plan or policy.

D. The variance request is the minimum variance from the provisions and standards of this title which will alleviate the hardship.

(Ord. 5-1983 § 13.02)

17.52.030 - Variance procedure.

The procedure to be followed in applying for and acting on a variance shall be substantially the same as provisions for a conditional use, except that notice of the public hearing need only be mailed to property owners within three hundred (300) feet of the applicant's property.

(Ord. 5-1983 § 13.03)