17.140.110 Authorization.

   The Zoning Board of Appeals is hereby authorized:

  1. To hear and decide appeals from the refusal of the County Zoning Administrator to issue zoning permits and, appeals from his or her issuance of a stop order, when noncompliance with the provisions of this Title are the grounds for the action of the County Zoning Administrator.
  2. To hear and decide appeals for a variance from the strict application of the zoning regulations set forth in this Title.
  3. To receive testimony under oath and make such studies and surveys as are required to carry out the duties set forth herein.
  4. To request information or opinions from other agencies and commissions relative to such application.
  5. To request information or opinions from any administrative officer of the County or any other person or persons considered expert on the matter before the Board.
  6. To attach such requirements, conditions and/or reviews to actions on applications presented to it as it feels necessary to carry out the intent and purposes of this Title.
  7. To present to the County Planning Commission such suggestions for amendment of the Title as it deems necessary to clarify the intent and purpose or improve any section, article, or paragraph on which the Zoning Board of Appeals has occasion to rule.

17.140.120 Applications.

   Any person and/or any public or private agency making an appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals shall submit the same in writing on forms provided by the Pueblo County Department of Planning and Development for that purpose. Applications for relief from any action by the County Zoning Administrator must be made within thirty (30) days from the date on which the person, firm or corporation was aggrieved by action of the County Zoning Administrator. Applications for such appeals shall be filed with the County Zoning Administrator, and he or she shall transmit the application to the Secretary of the Board within fifteen (15) days along with all paper constituting the record upon which the action being appealed from was taken, and a written statement indicating his or her findings of fact and his or her reasons for the action for which appeal is made. 

17.140.130 Fees.

   Applications for a variance or for an appeal from the action of the County Zoning Administrator shall be accompanied by a fee as set forth in a separate Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners, which fee must be paid and a receipt therefore be presented to the Secretary of the Board prior to the hearing on the application. All fees shall be made payable to the County of Pueblo. Fees paid and collected pursuant to this Chapter shall not be refundable.

17.140.140 Public hearings.

   All actions of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be taken at public hearings, notice of which has been given by the Secretary of the Board no less than ten (10) days before the date set for such action in the following manner:

  1. Such notice shall give the time, date, and place of the hearing, a brief description of the application and the legal description and/or street address of the property for which such variance or other relief is sought.
  2. A copy of such notice shall be sent by mail to the last known address of owners of real property lying within three hundred (300) feet of the exterior boundaries of the property for which the variance or other relief is sought. Failure to mail such notice to every property owner due to clerical omission shall not affect the validity of any hearing or determination of the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Zoning Board of Appeals, however, may determine that such omission should be corrected and/therefore, may continue any such hearing until such time as notice and compliance herewith is made.
  3. A copy of such notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the County.
  4. Proof of compliance with this Chapter shall be by the written statement of the Secretary of the Zoning Board of Appeals, giving the names and addresses of the person to whom the notice was mailed, the date of mailing together with post office receipts and that the Publisher's Affidavit of Publication will be obtained. Such proof shall become a part of the record of the hearing of the Zoning Board of Appeals on the application for the variance or for other relief from the actions of the County Zoning Administrator.

17.140.150 Standards for appeals from County Zoning Administrator.

   Before granting an appeal from actions of the County Zoning Administrator, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall find, based upon evidence and testimony, that the following conditions exist:

  1. The granting of the appeal will permit only those uses listed in the zone district in which the parcel is located.
  2. The action of the County Zoning Administrator was arbitrary, capricious or not in harmony with the provisions, purposes, intent and spirit of this Title.

17.140.160 Standards on appeals for variances.

   Before granting an appeal for a variance, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall find, based upon the evidence and testimony, that the following conditions exist:

  1. The variance, if granted, will permit only those uses listed as a use permitted in the zone district in which the parcel is located;
  2. The parcel for which the variance appeal is made suffers unique or singular disadvantages such as, but not limited to, size, shape, topography, location or surroundings not shared by other parcels in the neighborhood;
  3. The variance will not grant privileges inconsistent with limitations shared by other parcels in the zone district;
  4. The variance will not have an injurious affect on the existing or future use of adjacent parcels;
  5. The variance will not injure or adversely alter the general character of the neighborhood in which the variance is sought;
  6. The variance appeal is in harmony with the intent, purpose and spirit of this Chapter.

17.140.170 Actions.

   Actions of the Zoning Board of Appeals on applications for variances or for relief from the actions of the County Zoning Administrator need not be in writing or set forth in any special form, but the record of such hearing shall, when considered as a whole, include a factual basis for the finding of the Zoning Board of Appeals that the standards for the granting of a variance or that the standards for the granting of relief from actions of the County Zoning Administrator have been met. The Zoning Board of Appeals should state clearly for the record those factors they have considered in reaching their decision to grant or deny a variance and/or grant or deny relief requested from actions of the County Zoning Administrator. Variance requests approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals shall not be personal to the applicant, but shall be transferable and shall run with the land for which the variance has been approved.

17.140.180. Time limit for consideration.

   Decisions by the Zoning Board of Appeals on variance applications and/or upon applications for relief from the actions of the County Zoning Administrator shall be rendered within sixty (60) days from the date of the hearing.  Failure of the Zoning Board of Appeals to render a decision within the allotted time shall constitute acceptance and the granting of such appeal.  Upon mutual agreement of the Zoning Board of Appeals and the applicant, the time period within which the Zoning Board of Appeals has to act may be extended.

17.140.190. Reapplication.

   In the event an appeal for a variance and/or an appeal from the actions of the County Zoning Administrator is denied, no new appeal shall be made for the same or a substantially similar condition on the same property covered by the original application within six (6) months of the denial.

17.140.200. Legal remedy.

   The findings and decisions of the Zoning Board of Appeals on applications for variances and/or upon applications for relief from the actions of the County Zoning Administrator shall be final. Appeals to the District Court shall be made within thirty (30) days from the date of the action by the Zoning Board of Appeals on the variance application and/or upon the application for relief from the actions of the County Zoning Administrator.