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Trustee to draft zoning language to restore variance flexibility for ZBA review
Summary
Trustee Rick Sovel will draft proposed ordinance language to give the Zoning Board of Appeals more discretion in dimensional variance cases after trustees and township attorneys flagged limitations in the ordinance and court interpretations.
Trustee Rick Sovel told the Charter Township of Commerce Board of Trustees on Jan. 28 that the township’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has become too rigid after a prior ordinance revision and that petitioners now must meet all six standards to obtain a variance.
"For example, if we follow the letter of the law, if your house is 1 inch over the setback, then you have to tear your house down because you can't get a variance," Trustee Rick Sovel said. "That is not in the spirit of…
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