Title
An Ordinance to Amend Section 5:517 of Chapter 61, Signs and Outdoor Advertising, Title V, of the Code of the City of Ann Arbor Section, to Shift the Responsibilities of the Sign Board of Appeals to the Zoning Board of Appeals (Ordinance No. ORD-12-32)
Memorandum
Approval of this ordinance amendment would shift the Sign Board of Appeals’ responsibilities for hearing variance and appeals from the provisions of Chapter 61 (Signs and Outdoor Advertising) to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
The Sign Board of Appeals (SBA) is a seven-member citizen board, appointed by the Mayor and City Council, which hears appeals of administrative decisions and variances from Chapter 61. The Board is scheduled to meet monthly, although usually meets only several times per year. Last fiscal year, the SBA heard six appeals. The previous fiscal year, no appeals were filed.
Administration of the sign code was moved from Building to Planning staff in 2008. The idea of shifting the SBA’s responsibilities to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), a nine-member board that meets monthly, was raised that same year as part of budget discussions. The thought was that by having the ZBA hear sign appeals and variances, Planning & Development Services administrative staff time spent to create separate notice and board packets would be eliminated.
Since the original proposal, the Zoning Ordinance Re-organization project (ZORO) has proposed that the sign code be incorporated into the Uniform Development Code. As such, sign requirements will become “zoning” requirements, and therefore appropriate topics for ZBA review.
Currently, the ZBA has the authority to hear appeals and grant variances for Chapter 47 (Streets), Chapter 59 (Off-Street Parking), Chapter 60 (Wetlands), Chapter 62 (Landscape and Screening), Chapter 63 (Storm Water Management and Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control), Chapter 94 (Junkyards) and Chapter 104 (Fences). The requirements for all of these appeals and var...
Click here for full text