The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA)

The Town of Vinton Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) is made up of five citizens who are appointed by Vinton Town Council. The Board of Zoning Appeals has several roles. The main one is hearing variance applications relative to the Town of Vinton Zoning Ordinance. A variance request is typically made when a property owner feels that the strict application of the Zoning Ordinance will create a unique and undue hardship on how he or she intends to use the property. The BZA also has the authority to hear and decide appeals from any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by the zoning administrator or any other administrative officer in the administration or enforcement of the Vinton Zoning Ordinance. Additionally, the BZA has the authority to grant special exceptions from the Vinton Zoning Ordinance.

To legally grant a variance, the BZA must be presented evidence and make a finding that:

• A property owner acquired the property in good faith and where by reason of the exceptional narrowness, shallowness, size or shape of the property at the time of the adoption of this ordinance, or where by reason of exceptional topographic conditions or other extraordinary situations or condition of the property, the strict application of this ordinance would effectively prohibit, or unreasonably restrict the use of the property, or;
  
  
• Due to the condition, situation, or development of immediately adjacent property, the strict application of this ordinance would effectively prohibit, or unreasonably restrict the use of the property, or;
  
  
• That the granting of the variance will alleviate a clearly demonstrable hardship approaching confiscation, as distinguished from a special privilege or convenience sought by the applicant.

Find out how you can apply to be appointed to the
Vinton Board of Zoning Appeals by clicking here.

Virginia State Code requires that all variance petitions heard by the BZA meet the public hearing requirements, which include mailings to adjacent property owners and a legal advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation. The adjacent property owners are notified by mail of the date, time, and location of these hearings. The notice for the newspaper must be placed in advance of the hearing to give those interested an opportunity to speak at the hearing. Therefore, ample time must be allowed between the submission of the application and the public hearing. A typical variance will take from 4-6 weeks from the submission of the application to the public hearing. Below is a summary of application process. The Planning and Zoning Department Staff is available to assist citizens with the application process.

The Variance Process

• The property owner or contract purchaser, as the petitioner, sets up a meeting with a staff member from the Planning and Zoning Office. At this meeting, the staff member can explain what is required in the application, explain the process further, and answer any questions the petitioner may have.



• After the initial meeting, the petitioner submits the variance application. The application must be completed and signed by the property owner, contract purchaser or owner's agent. Additionally, the following items must be submitted:
  
  
  1. Variance Application.
      Download a copy of the variance application by clicking here.
     (Note: To view this document, you must have the Adobe Acrobat® Reader® program installed on your computer. To download the program for FREE, please click the following link:   Click here to download Adobe Acrobat® Reader®.
  
  
  
  2. List of adjoining property owners, including the owners' names and addresses (mailing address including zip code) and tax map numbers of all adjoining properties and those directly across any public right-of-way must accompany the application, including those in other jurisdictions (the Planning and Zoning Department Staff is available to assist citizens with this portion of the application process);
  
  
  
  3. A concept plan for the proposed project and the concept plan checklist;
  
  
  
  4. Application fee form..
  
   Download a copy of the application fee form by clicking here.
  (Note: To view this document, you must have the Adobe Acrobat® Reader® program installed on your computer. To download the program for FREE, please click the following link:   Click here to download Adobe Acrobat® Reader®.
  
  
• Between the time of the submission of the application and the public hearing with the BZA, the petitioner is required to post notices on his or her property regarding the hearing. A staff member will provide the signs at the time the application is submitted. Additionally, notices of the hearing mailed to the adjacent property owners, and submittal of a legal ad to a newspaper of general circulation, are required by state code. The petitioner may be billed for the cost of the legal advertisements.



• On the evening of the public hearing with the BZA, either the petitioner or his or her representative are expected to give a brief presentation to the Board and answer any questions the Board members have. The Board usually makes its decision on the evening of this public hearing, but has 90 days by law to make its recommendation. The decision is made in the form of a "Findings of Fact".

• If the Board's decision is to deny the variance, the petitioner may appeal the decision to the Circuit Court of Roanoke County within 30 days.

For further information regarding variances or the application process, please contact the Vinton Planning and Zoning Department at 540-983-0605.

The Vinton BZA meets on an as-needed basis. When an application is received, a meeting is scheduled with the Board Members as soon possible. Please see the information on variances above for more about the timeline for obtaining a variance.

BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS (BZA) MINUTES Note: To view these documents, you must have the Adobe Acrobat® Reader® program installed on your computer. To download the program for FREE, please click the link below.

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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS (BZA) AGENDAS Note: To view these documents, you must have the Adobe Acrobat® Reader® program installed on your computer. To download the program for FREE, please click the link below.

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