Board of Adjustment

Members

Members are appointed by the Mayor, subject to City Council approval, for five-year terms.

Powers & Duties

The Board of Adjustment consists of nine members: five city residents, two from Marion County, and two from Mahaska County for extraterritorial zoning.

The Board of Adjustment shall have only the following powers and duties:

• Administrative Review - The board may hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decisions, or determination made by the zoning administrator in the enforcement of this zoning ordinance or any regulation relating to the location or soundness of structures.
• Special Use Permits - The board may hear and decide the approval of applications for special use permits.
• Variances to Relieve Hardships Relating to Property - The board may authorize, upon appeal, variances where by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness, or shape of a specific piece of property at the time of enactment of the zoning regulations; or by reason of exceptional topographic conditions or other extraordinary and exceptional situation or condition of such piece of property, such strict application would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties to or exceptional and undue hardships upon the owner of such property.