Chapter 15.53
VARIANCES
Sections:
15.53.010 Variance – General.
A. The building department board of appeals shall hear and decide requests for variances from the requirements of this division.
B. In passing upon an application for a variance, the building department board of appeals shall consider all technical evaluations, all relevant factors, standards specified in other sections of this division, and:
1. The danger that materials may be swept onto other lands to the injury of others;
2. The danger to life and property due to flooding or erosion damage;
3. The susceptibility of the proposed facility and its contents to flood damage and the effect of such damage on the individual owner;
4. The importance of the services provided by the proposed facility to the community;
5. The necessity to the facility of a waterfront location, where applicable;
6. The availability of alternative locations for the proposed use which are not subject to flooding or erosion damage;
7. The compatibility of the proposed use with existing and anticipated development;
8. The relationship of the proposed use to the comprehensive plan and floodplain management program for that area;
9. The safety of access to the property in time of flooding for ordinary and emergency vehicles;
10. The expected heights, velocity, duration, rate of rise, and sediment transport of the floodwaters expected at the site; and
11. The costs of providing governmental services during and after flood conditions, including maintenance and repair of public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical and water systems, and streets and bridges.
C. Generally, variances may be issued for new construction and substantial improvements to be erected on a lot of one-half acre or less in size contiguous to and surrounded by lots with existing structures constructed below the base flood level; provided, subsections (B)(1) through (B)(11) of this section have been fully considered. As the lot size increases beyond one-half acre, the technical justification required for issuing the variance increases.
D. Variances may be issued for the reconstruction, rehabilitation or restoration of structures listed in the National Register of Historic Places or the State Inventory of Historic Places, without regard to the procedures set forth in the remainder of this section.
E. Variances may be issued for new construction and substantial improvements and for other development necessary for the conduct of a functionally dependent use; provided, that the provisions of BMC 15.49.030(A) through (D) are satisfied and that the structure or other development is protected by methods that minimize flood damage during the base flood and create no additional threats to public safety.
F. Variances shall not be issued within any designated floodway if any increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge would result.
G. Variances shall only be issued upon:
1. A showing of good and sufficient cause;
2. A determination that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship to the applicant;
3. A determination that the granting of a variance will not result in increased flood heights, additional threats to public safety, or extraordinary public expense; create nuisances; cause fraud on or victimization of the public; or conflict with existing local laws or ordinances; and
4. A determination that the variance is the minimum necessary, considering the flood hazard, to afford relief.
H. Upon consideration of the factors of subsection (B) of this section and the purposes of this division, the building department board of appeals may attach such conditions to the granting of variances as it deems necessary to further the purposes of this division.
I. Any applicant to whom a variance is granted shall be given written notice that the structure will be permitted to be built with a lowest floor elevation below the regulatory flood elevation and that the cost of flood insurance will be commensurate with the increased risk resulting from the reduced lowest floor elevation. A copy of the notice shall be recorded by the floodplain board in the office of the Solano County recorder and shall be recorded in a manner so that it appears in the chain of title of the affected parcel of land.
J. The floodplain administrator shall maintain the records of all appeal actions and report any variances to the Federal Insurance Administration upon request.
K. Decisions of the building department board of appeals may be appealed to the city council by any person adversely affected by such decision by filing a written notice of appeal in accordance with Chapter 1.44 BMC.
L. A decision of the building department board of appeals shall become final if not appealed pursuant to Chapter 15.55 BMC.
M. A variance shall expire if a building permit is not obtained within one year after the variance becomes final. The variance shall also expire if the structure is not completed by the time the building permit expires. (Ord. 22-12 § 1).