Township Council Votes to Remove Itself from Hearing Zoning Board Appeals

A change to a land use and development ordinance approved Monday evening by the clarifies Zoning Board of Adjustment appeals and removes the governing body from the process.

Those who want to refute a Board of Adjustment decision now must appeal to "a court of competent jurisdiction" rather than the Township Council.

The council had been established in the ordinance, section 245-13 E of Chapter 245, as the authority to hear appeals. But since serving on the governing body beginning in 2006, President Craig Wallis said he has has never seen an appeal from the Board of Adjustment come before the Township Council.

"They always go directly to court with the appeal if they don't agree with the decision," he said. 

The change in the ordinance reflects that and codifies it. Applicants were to come before the council if they wanted to appeal the process of the zoning hearing, not the decision itself, said Councilmember Sam Fusaro. 

"It's not a review of the decision itself, it's a review of the process," he said before council members voted unanimously to approve the changes to the ordinance. Fusaro said that he considered voting against the change, but ultimately decided that because the appeal is a review of procedure and not the Zoning Board member's judgement, a court should handle the review.

"Given that, I think the courts are much better suited for that type of review than this body would be," he said.

Wallis said that township boards are "very strict" on following procedures, and he trusts their judgement. 

"I've got faith in our board members, because they're there as volunteers trying to do the right thing, by the township, by the law," he said.

The change comes months after Zoning Board of Adjustment members voted to deny an undersized lot construction variance in Pine Lake Park. At the time of the denial, applicant Lisa Duerkes said that to an appellate court.