CITY OF CEDAR SPRINGS
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
PROCEDURAL RULES
Article I: Organization.
1.
At an annual meeting to be held in December, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall elect from its
members a Chair, Vice-Chair and a Secretary to each serve for a term of one year.
2.
The Chair shall preside at meetings. In the absence or during the disability of the Chair, the ViceChair shall preside.
3.
The Chair, subject to these Rules, shall decide points of order of procedure, unless otherwise
directed by a majority of the members of the Zoning Board of Appeals present at the time.
4.
Subject to these Rules, the Secretary, or his or her appointed designee, may conduct all official
correspondence, compile the required records and generally perform the clerical work of the Zoning
Board of Appeals. However, unless the Secretary or the Board by resolution should otherwise decide, the
City Clerk or a designee of the City Clerk shall routinely perform such clerical functions for the Zoning
Board of Appeals.
Article II: Meetings.
1.
Meetings of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be held at the call of the Chair and at such other
times as the Zoning Board of Appeals may determine, and shall be at sufficiently frequent intervals, in the
discretion of the Board, for the efficient conduct of its business.
2.
The Chair or, in his or her absence, the acting Chair may administer oaths as provided in the
Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, 2006 PA 110, as amended, MCL 125.3101 et seq. (the “MZEA”).
3.
All meetings shall be open to the public as provided in the MZEA and the Michigan Open
Meetings Act, 1976 PA 267, as amended, MCL 15.261 et seq. (the “OMA”).
Article III: Records.
1.
Minutes shall be recorded of all proceedings which shall include the evidence, data, findings and
conclusions relevant to every matter together with votes of the members and final disposition of each
matter. They shall be prepared and approved as provided in the MZEA and the OMA.
2.
The minutes shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk and shall become matters of public
record.
3.
Any correspondence, staff or consultant reports or other written information, drawings, pictures
or other information shall be part of the record of the proceedings.
4.
A meeting may be taped for purposes of assisting in the preparation of minutes. Those audio
tapes may be discarded or reused once the minutes of the meeting are approved at a subsequent meeting.
5.
The minutes, together with any other information such as described in #3 above, shall constitute
the official record of the meeting.
6.
The Chair or the Zoning Board of Appeals may request that any meeting or portion of a meeting
relating to a particular matter be transcribed or video-taped and the transcription or video-tape added to
the record. Either the Chair or the Zoning Board of Appeals may also consent to the addition to the
record of a transcription or a video-tape prepared by or for an applicant or other party.
Article IV: Rules of Procedure.
1.
Except as otherwise provided for by these Rules, procedures during meetings of the Zoning
Board of Appeals shall generally follow Robert’s Rules of Order. However, if it is clear what actions
were taken and that each member of the Zoning Board of Appeals understood the actions being taken, a
failure to strictly follow Robert’s Rules of Order shall not invalidate any action.
2.
A quorum shall consist of a majority of the members of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
3.
The final disposition of any matter before the Zoning Board of Appeals shall require the
concurring vote of the majority of all its members, except that the concurring vote of 2/3 of all its
members shall be necessary to grant a use variance under the City’s zoning ordinance. (Therefore, if only
4 of the 7 members of the Zoning Board of Appeals are present, a use variance could not be approved and
a non-use variance would require the unanimous vote of those present.
4.
Appeals to the Zoning Board of Appeals, in any matter over which it has jurisdiction, shall be
filed in writing with the City Clerk within 30 days of the date of the action appealed from.
5.
A request for a variance shall be filed in writing with the Clerk.
6.
Each appeal and application shall clearly and concisely state in writing how the appeal and/or
variance request complies with the Zoning Ordinance requirements or criteria for the relief sought by the
applicant. It should also contain a drawing to scale showing all needed dimensions, site conditions, site
layout and other information needed to decide the issue and to ensure that is the only variance or other
approval needed from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
A.
City staff has no obligation to assist an applicant.
B.
Applicants should retain any needed professional help to ensure their applications and
presentations clearly demonstrate how their situation meets the requirements for the desired
relief.
C.
A failure to comply with this provision could result in the postponement of the matter for
more information and/or denial of the request.
D.
If an application on its face fails to meet the requirements, City staff shall return it to the
applicant with an explanation about what is needed to comply with the application requirements
and no public hearing will be scheduled until an application is filed in compliance with the
requirements.
6.
Due to the need to review applications for accuracy, to sometimes seek the review and advice of
consultants such as the City’s engineers, planners or attorneys, to sometimes obtain input from other
governmental agencies, to sometimes obtain additional information from the applicant, to provide timely
notice of the public hearing, etc., all applications shall be filed with the City Clerk at least 30 days before
any scheduled Zoning Board of Appeals meeting.
7.
No action shall be taken in the absence of a quorum, except to receive for information reports or
presentations not requiring action by the Zoning Board of Appeals, to schedule matters for a public
hearing and to adjourn a meeting to a subsequent date.
Article V: Public Hearings.
1.
Notice of all public hearings held by the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be provided in
accordance with the procedures set forth within the City’s zoning ordinance and the MZEA.
2.
Applicants are encouraged to talk with their neighbors about their requests prior to the public
hearing (it is best to do so before filing the application) to enlist their support and/or to address any
concerns they may have.
3.
Rules for public hearings are as follows:
A.
Persons will be allowed to speak up to 3 minutes. The Chair may allow someone
speaking on behalf of a group to speak longer if the group members agree to have a single
spokesperson. The Chair may, in the Chair’s discretion, allow a person to speak longer or to
speak a second time. The Chair may, in the Chair’s discretion, also allow an applicant to speak
longer and/or may allow an applicant to respond to comments or questions.
B.
Whenever circumstances warrant, including the length of a meeting agenda, an large
number of persons wishing to speak, or other similar reason, the Chair shall have the right to limit
repetitive or redundant public comments.
C.
Written statements shall be accepted and added to the meeting record and need not (and
should not) be read aloud. However, a speaker may summarize them.
D.
Speakers shall address the Chair and shall conduct themselves with civility and decorum.
They shall not address the applicant, other speakers, other board members, members of the
audience or others.
E.
While a speaker may ask questions, there is no right to have the questions answered. The
public hearing is a time to hear comments from those affected by the matter, it is not a time for
debate among audience members, between a speaker and an applicant, or between a speaker and
the Zoning Board of Appeals. Generally, there will be no response from the Chair or other Board
members during a public hearing.
F.
The Zoning Board of Appeals will discuss the matter after the public hearing is closed
and may ask questions of the applicant, City staff or consultants, or those in the audience.
Article VII: Amendments.
1.
These Rules may be amended at any meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals provided that
notice of the proposed amendment shall appear on the agenda of the meeting at which any amendment is
to be considered.
Article VIII: Conflict of Interest.
1.
A member of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall disqualify himself or herself from a vote in
which the member has a conflict of interest. For purposes of these Rules, a conflict of interest is a direct
personal or financial interest in a matter before the Zoning Board of Appeals that is not generally shared
by members of the community.
2.
A member of the Zoning Board of Appeals who is also a member of the City’s Planning
Commission shall not participate in a public hearing on, or vote on, the same matter that the member
voted on as a member of the Planning Commission. However, the member may consider and vote on
other unrelated matters involving the same property.