Bexley City Council OKs new zoning appeals process
Bexley City Council unanimously approved legislation June 14 that city officials say is designed to further streamline the appeals process for zoning decisions.
The ordinance amends the process by which zoning decisions are appealed to council. In the previous appeals process, individuals who wished to appeal decisions by the Board of Zoning and Planning (BZAP) had to wait until the BZAP approved the minutes of the meeting in which the zoning decision in question was made.
The amended ordinance says an applicant can appeal a zoning decision within 30 days after the city provides the applicant with a written record of the decision.
It also establishes a specific timeline for when zoning appeals can occur, Mayor Ben Kessler said.
“Any time there’s a BZAP decision, the applicant or the applicant’s representative has to be at the hearing,” Kessler said. “That party knows the decision, so they’re on notice already if they want to appeal it. This triggers the official timing that it gets provided in writing.”
BZAP members reviewed the ordinance May 26 and recommended that council approve it with some language changes. The BZAP recommendation expands the definition of a “written record” to include email and electronic notifications generated by the city’s zoning software.
“The city’s zoning software is extremely user-friendly,” Councilman Matt Klinger said. “It pings you right away when there’s a move made with your application.”
Before council approval of the new process, there could be delays in the zoning appeal process due to the timing of BZAP meetings, the ordinance states.
“In instances where the Board of Zoning and Planning does not meet for two months, or where a monthly meeting is not held because a quorum of the board is unable to be obtained, or where a majority of the board was not present at the past meeting and is unable to approve minutes, the timeline for appeals can be unreasonably lengthened, resulting in hardship to applicants whose project timing and purchase process often rely on reasonable zoning timelines,” the ordinance states.
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Bexley City Council OKs new zoning appeals process
