Highland Boards & Commissions Board of Zoning Appeals

Members of a BZA may not hold other elective or appointive office in municipal, county or state government, except as permitted by I.C. 36-7-4-902. Member must be a resident. The Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals is comprised of five members, (3) of whom are appointed by the Town Council President, (1) of whom is appointed by the Town Council and (1) of whom is appointed by the Plan Commission. The board of zoning appeals hears and determines appeals from and review:

any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative official, hearing officer, or staff member under the zoning ordinance;
any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative board or other body except a plan commission in relation to the enforcement of the zoning ordinance; or
any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative board or other body (except the plan commission) in relation to the enforcement of an ordinance requiring the procurement of an improvement location or occupancy permit.

In addition, the Advisory Board of Zoning Appeals shall approve or deny all:

special exceptions
special uses
contingent uses
conditional uses

from the terms of the zoning ordinance, but only in the classes of cases or in the particular situations specified in the zoning ordinance. The board may impose reasonable conditions as a part of its approval.

HOW TO APPEAL FOR A VARIANCE – USE VARIANCE OUTLINE

The Board of Zoning Appeals meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month

Except the November and December meetings, which may be changed because of the Holidays. Please contact the Building & Inspection Department at (219) 972-7595 to confirm meeting dates.

Follow the instructions in this outline to an efficient and expedient conclusion to your petition.

1. For your Public Hearing you will be required to do the following:

File the application with the legal description of property in question and pay pertinent fees 20 days prior to the BZA meeting held at 6:30 p.m. on the 4th Wednesday of month 6:30 p.m.
Provide proof of ownership or vested interest in the property.
Obtain an approved sign from the Building Department and have it posted in a conspicuous location on the property no less than 10 days prior to your public hearing. (The 10 days prior will fall on a weekend so the sign should be posted by the Friday before). This sign must remain posted until the day AFTER the public hearing.

2. Publish legal advertisement (I. C. 5-3-1) for ONE DAY in either The Times or the Post-Tribune. Legal Ad must appear in the paper a minimum of 10 days prior to date of public hearing. The newspapers do have a deadline for publishing legal ads.

FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THESE ESTABLISHED RULES WILL RESULT IN THE PETITIONER NOT BEING HEARD AND THEREFORE CONTINUED TO THE NEXT SCHEDULED HEARING DATE.

3. Twenty-four (24) hours prior to the public hearing you must:

Submit proof of publication to the Office of the Building Commissioner (affidavits from newspapers).
Please note: We cannot accept copies of the printed notice. These MUST be actual affidavits from the publisher. Failure to submit proof of publication will result in your public hearing being continued to the following month, due to inadequate time for the attorney to review proofs for compliance.

4. At the PUBLIC HEARING you, the petitioner, must:

Present copies of plans, minimum of five (5) to the Board Members.
Have a copy large enough to be placed on the bulletin board and be clearly seen by remonstrators and Board Members.
Make your presentation.
Respond to any remonstrators.
Respond to questions and comments by Board Members.

Note: Final action (Approval or Denial) of a request is decided by the members of the Board of Zoning Appeals, usually the day of the public hearing. On occasion it may be necessary for the Board to request a continuation to further study plans.

Highland Boards & Commissions – BZA