Zoning Board of Adjustment

Meetings

5:30 pm
1st Tuesday of the month
City Hall Council Chambers
215 Sycamore Street
Muscatine, Iowa 52761
All Zoning Board of Adjustment meetings are open to the public.

Membership

The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall consist of 5 members to be appointed by the Mayor, with the approval of the Council. The terms of Office of such members shall commence with their appointment and shall be for terms of 5 years. Each term shall commence on the first day of July. One member of the Board shall be a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission. No individual shall serve more than 2 full consecutive terms on the Board. City Code 2-20-2 (PDF)

Duties

Interpret the Zoning Ordinance

View Ordinance (PDF)

  • Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is an error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by the Building and Zoning Administrator.
  • Permit the extension of a district where the boundary line of a district divides a lot held in a single ownership at the time of the passage of the Ordinance.
  • Interpret the provisions of the Ordinance to carry out the intent and purpose of the plan, as shown upon the map fixing the several districts accompanying and made a part of the Ordinance where the street layout on the ground varies from the street layout as shown on the map aforesaid.

Permit the Following Exceptions

  • Use of premises for public utility.
  • Reconstruction of a nonconforming building that would otherwise be prohibited by Section 10-18-5 (PDF).
  • Authorize construction, or alterations of buildings or structures or the use of land that is prohibited by Ordinance. Applicant must show that grant such variation will not merely serve as a convenience to them, but will alleviate some demonstrable and unusual hardship or difficulty.

Permit the Following Variations

  • Vary the yard regulations where there is an exceptional, unique, or unusual physical condition of a lot, and which condition, when related to the yard regulations of this Ordinance, would prevent a reasonable or sensible arrangement of buildings on the lot.
  • Vary the parking regulations where an applicant demonstrates conclusively that the specific use of a building would make unnecessary the parking spaces required by this Ordinance. City Code 10-22-2 (D) (PDF)