Zoning Board of Review

[Amended 7-15-2004, effective 8-11-2004; 3-15-2007, effective 3-15-2007; 11-21-2024, effective 11-21-2024]

• A. Membership.
  • (1) The Zoning Board of Review, hereinafter called the “Board,” is created. The Board shall be appointed by the Town Council and shall consist of five members, each to hold office for the term of five years; provided, however, that the original appointments shall be made for terms of one, two, three, four, and five years, respectively. The Zoning Board of Review shall also include two alternates to be designated as the first and second alternate members, appointed for terms of one year. These alternate members shall sit and may actively participate in hearings. The first alternate shall vote if a member of the Board is unable to serve at a hearing and the second shall vote if two members of the Board are unable to serve at a hearing. In the absence of the first alternate member, the second alternate member shall serve in the position of the first alternate. No member or alternate may vote on any matter before the Board unless he or she has attended all hearings concerning that matter. If vacancy occurs in the Board, the Town Council shall appoint a new member for the unexpired term. All members of the Board shall be legal residents of the Town, and no member shall be an elected official or salaried employee of the Town. All regular members shall be subject to removal by the Town Council for excessive absences from the Board meetings in accordance with Chapter 27, Meetings, Article I.
  • (2) Members of the Board serving on the effective date of adoption of this chapter shall be exempt from provisions of this section respecting terms of originally appointed members until the expiration of their current terms.
• B. Organization. Once each year, the Board shall organize by electing from its membership a Chair and Vice-Chair. The Board may engage the services of a secretary or recorder within the limits of funds available to it or may appoint one of its members secretary.
  • (1) Meetings of the Board shall be held at the call of the Chair and at such other times as the Board may determine; provided, however, said meetings are in accordance with the notice and open meeting requirements as specified elsewhere in this chapter and all applicable General Laws of Rhode Island. The Chairperson, or in his or her absence the Acting Chairperson, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses by the issuance of subpoenas.
  • (2) All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public and in accordance with all such applicable local and state laws and regulations. All decisions of the Board shall be made and voted upon at a public hearing. In conducting meetings and rendering decisions, the Board shall consist of five participating members; provided, however, that no participating member of the Board shall participate or pass on any matter in which there exists a business, professional or personal interest. If such a conflict occurs, that member shall notify the Chair of such conflict and recuse himself or herself, and not sit as a participating member of the Board, nor take part in the conduct of the hearing before the Board.
  • (3) Participation in a zoning hearing or other proceeding by a party shall not be a cause for civil action or liability except for acts not in good faith, intentional misconduct, a knowing violation of law, transactions where there is an improper personal benefit, or malicious, wanton, or willful misconduct.
• C. Powers and duties. The Board shall have the following powers, duties, and obligations.
  • (1) Powers and duties:
    • (a) To hear and decide appeals in a timely fashion where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative officer or agency in the enforcement or interpretation of this chapter, or of any ordinance adopted pursuant hereto;
    • (b) To hear and decide appeals from a party aggrieved by a decision of an Historic District Commission, pursuant to Title 45, Chapters 24.1-7.1 and 7.2 of the Rhode Island General Laws;
    • (c) To authorize, upon application, in specific cases of hardship, variances in the application of the terms of this chapter, pursuant to Title 45, Chapter 24-41 of the Rhode Island General Laws;
    • (d) To authorize, upon application, in specific cases, special use permits, pursuant to Title 45, Chapter 24-42(A) of the Rhode Island General Laws, where the Board is designated as a permit authority for special use permits;
    • (e) To refer all petitions for relief or special use permits to the Planning Board for findings and recommendations, prior to action by the Board on any such petition(s);
    • (f) To provide for issuance of conditional zoning approvals where a proposed application would otherwise be approved except that one or more state or federal agency approvals which are necessary are pending. A conditional zoning approval shall be revoked in the instance where any necessary state or federal agency approvals are not received within a specified time period, as determined by the Board through testimony received at such hearing, and so noted on the decision record; and
    • (g) To hear and decide other matters, according to the terms of the ordinance or other statutes, and upon which the Board may be authorized to pass under the ordinance or other statutes;
  • (2) No application for a variance or special use permit involving the same parcel and same request, which was denied by or withdrawn from the Board, may be resubmitted for consideration by the Board for a period of one year from the date of such denial or withdrawal, unless the Board determines there is a substantial change of circumstances which justifies a new hearing, determined in accordance with § 350-7E(9) of this chapter; and
  • (3) Any variance or special use permit granted by the Board shall expire six months from the date of approval, unless the applicant shall within that period exercise the right granted by the decision. The Board may, upon application within the six-month period and for good cause, extend the limitation for one additional six-month period. The application for an extension need not be advertised.
  • (4) Be required to vote as follows:
    • (a) Five active members shall be necessary to conduct a hearing. As soon as a conflict of interest occurs for a member, that member shall recuse himself or herself, shall not sit as a participating member, and take no part in the conduct of the hearing. Only five participating members shall be entitled to vote on any issue;
    • (b) The concurring vote of three of the five members of the Board sitting at a hearing shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination of any zoning administrative officer from whom an appeal was taken; and
    • (c) The concurring vote of four of the five members of the Board sitting at a hearing shall be required to decide in favor of an applicant on any matter within the discretion of the Board upon which it is required to pass under this chapter, including variances and special use permits.
  • (5) Issue decisions, in a manner as follows:
    • (a) Following a public hearing, the Board shall render a decision within 15 days. The Board shall include in its decision all findings of fact and conditions, showing the vote of each member participating thereon, and the absence of a member or his or her failure to vote. Decisions shall be recorded and filed in the office of the Town Clerk within 30 working days from the date when the decision was rendered, and shall be a public record. The Board shall keep written minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question, or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact, and shall keep records of its examinations, findings of fact, and other official actions, all of which shall be recorded and filed in the office of the Town Clerk in an expeditious manner upon completion of the proceeding. For any proceeding in which the right of appeal lies to the Superior or Supreme Court, the Board shall have the minutes taken either by a competent stenographer or recorded by a sound-recording device.
    • (b) Any decision by the Board, including any special conditions attached thereto, shall be mailed to the applicant, to the Zoning Enforcement Officer of the Town, and to the Associate Director of the Division of Planning of the Rhode Island Department of Administration. Any decision evidencing the granting of a variance, modification, or special use shall also be recorded in the land evidence records of the Town.
• D. Appeals to the Board. Appeals to the Board may be taken by any party aggrieved or by any officer, department, board or bureau affected by the order or decision of the Inspector concerning the provisions of this chapter or the Historic District Commission, in accordance with the following provisions:
  • (1) The appeal shall be taken within 30 days of the date of the recording of the decision by the Inspector, by filing an application for appeal to the Board with the Inspector's office. A filing fee shall be payable, as established, and may be amended, by the Town Council, in accordance with Title 45, Chapter 24-59 of the Rhode Island General Laws.
  • (2) An appeal shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the Inspector certifies to the Board, after an appeal shall have been duly filed, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate a stay would in the Inspector's opinion cause imminent peril to life or property. In that case, proceedings shall not be stayed other than by a restraining order, which may be granted by a court of competent jurisdiction on application thereto and upon notice to the Inspector from whom the appeal is taken on due cause shown.
  • (3) Such application for appeal shall specify the nature of the grievance and ground(s) therefor. The party from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the Board all the papers constituting the record upon which the action or decision appealed from was taken. Notice of the appeal shall also be transmitted to the Planning Board.
  • (4) The Board shall fix a time for the hearing of the appeal within 45 days after the filing of an application for appeal, give public notice thereof, as well as due notice to the parties of interest, as specified elsewhere in this chapter and in accordance with Title 45, Chapter 24 of the Rhode Island General Laws, and decide the matter within 15 days of such public hearing. Upon the hearing, any party may appear in person or by agent or by attorney.
  • (5) In exercising its powers regarding appeals, the Board may, in conformity with the provisions of this chapter, reverse or affirm wholly or partly and may modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination appealed from and may make such orders, requirements, decisions, or determinations as ought to be made, and to that end shall have the powers of the officer from whom the appeal was taken. All decisions and records of the Board respecting appeals shall conform to the provisions as specified elsewhere in this chapter and in Title 45, Chapter 24-61 of the Rhode Island General Laws.
• E. General provisions – variances.
  • (1) An application for relief from the literal requirements of this chapter because of hardship may be made by any person, group, agency, or corporation by filing with the Zoning Officer or agency an application describing the request and supported by such data and evidence as may be required by the Board or by the terms of this ordinance. Zoning Officer or agency shall immediately transmit each application received to the Board and shall transmit a copy of each application to the Planning Office for distribution to the Planning Board.
  • (2) The Board, immediately upon receipt of an application for a variance in the application of the literal terms of the zoning ordinance, the Zoning Officer shall refer said application to the Planning Office and may request that the Planning Board provide findings and recommendations, including a statement on the general consistency of the application with the goals and purposes of the Comprehensive Plan of the Town, in writing to the Board within 30 days of receipt of the application from the Board. This report shall be entered into the record of the proceedings. The Board shall hold a public hearing on any application for variance in a manner as specified in § 350-8 in this chapter, after receipt, in proper form, of an application, and shall give public notice thereof at least 14 days' prior to the date of the hearing in a newspaper of local circulation in the Town. Notice of hearing shall be sent by first class mail to the applicant, and to at least all those who would require notice as specified in § 350-7E(5) and (8) of this chapter, and in accordance with Title 45, Chapter 24-53 of the Rhode Island General Laws. The notice shall also include the street address of the subject property.
  • (3) The same notice shall be posted in the town or city clerk's office and one other municipal building in the municipality and the municipality must make the notice accessible on their municipal home page of its website at least 14 days' prior to the hearing. For any notice sent by first-class mail, the sender of the notice shall submit a notarized affidavit to attest to such mailing. The cost of notification shall be borne by the applicant.
  • (4) Requests for dimensional and use variances submitted under a unified development review provision of this zoning ordinance shall be submitted as part of the subdivision or land-development application to the administrative officer of the Planning Board, pursuant to RIGL § 45-24-46.4(a) and all subdivision or land-development applications submitted under the unified development review provisions of this zoning ordinance shall have a public hearing in accordance with the requirements of the Subdivision Regulations and RIGL § 45-23-50.1(c).
  • (5) In granting a variance, the Board, or the Planning Board under unified development review as appropriate, shall require that evidence to the satisfaction of the following standards be entered into the record of the proceedings:
    • (a) That the hardship from which the applicant seeks relief is due to the unique characteristics of the subject land or structure and not to the general characteristics of the surrounding area; and is not due to a physical or economic disability of the applicant, excepting those physical disabilities addressed in R.I.G.L. § 45-24-30(16);
    • (b) That the hardship is not the result of any prior action of the applicant;
    • (c) That the granting of the requested variance will not alter the general character of the surrounding area or impair the intent or purpose of this chapter or the Comprehensive Plan upon which this chapter is based;
    • (d) The Board shall, or, where unified development review is enabled, the Planning Board, in addition to the preceding standards, require that evidence be entered into the record of the proceedings showing that:
      • [1] In granting a use variance the subject land or structure cannot yield any beneficial use if it is required to conform to the provisions of this chapter. Nonconforming use of neighboring land or structures in the same district and permitted use of lands or structures in an adjacent district shall not be considered in granting a use variance; and
      • [2] In granting a dimensional variance, that the hardship that will be suffered by the owner of the subject property if the dimensional variance is not granted shall amount to more than a mere inconvenience, meaning that relief sought is minimal to a reasonable enjoyment of the permitted use to which the property is proposed to be devoted. The fact that a use may be more profitable or that a structure may be more valuable after the relief is granted shall not be grounds for relief. The Board, or, Planning Board in unified development review, has the power to grant dimensional variances where the use is permitted by special-use permit.
• F. Special use permits. The Board, upon application, in specific cases, may authorize special use permits, where the Board is acting as the permitting authority for special use permits, provided the Board shall require that evidence to the satisfaction of the following standards be entered into the record of the proceedings during the public hearing on such special use permit application and to determine whether the use should be permitted, whether the use meets special safeguards and/or conditions, and, whether in granting a special use permit, what additional conditions and/or limitations may be necessary.
  • (1) Standards.
    • (a) The use is listed in the Table of Use Regulations, as specified elsewhere in this chapter, that may be allowed by special use permit, upon application to and favorable decision by the Board;

      Editor's Note: The Table of Use Regulations is included at the end of this chapter.

    • (b) An application, as required by the Board, has been properly filed with the Inspector and the requisite fee has been paid, as established, and may be amended, by the Town Council, as specified elsewhere in this chapter and in accordance with Title 45, Chapter 24-59 of the Rhode Island General Laws;
  • (2) Immediately upon the receipt of an application for a special use permit, the Inspector shall refer and request that the Planning Board shall report its findings and recommendations, including a statement on the general consistency of the application with the goals and purposes of the Comprehensive Plan of the Town, in writing to the Board within 30 days of receipt of the application from the Board. This report shall be entered into the record of the proceedings.
  • (3) The Board shall hold a public hearing on any application for a special use permit in a manner as specified elsewhere in this chapter, after receipt, in proper form, of an application, and shall give public notice thereof at least 14 days prior to the date of the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town. Notice of the hearing shall be sent by first class mail to the applicant, and to at least all those who would require notice as specified in § 350-7E(5) and (8) of this chapter, and in accordance with Title 45, Chapter 24-53 of the Rhode Island General Laws. The notice shall also include the street address of the subject property.
  • (4) In granting a special use permit, the Board shall affirmatively determine and enter into the record of the public hearing that:
    • (a) The proposed use shall be compatible with surrounding land uses;
    • (b) The proposed use shall conform with the applicable elements of the Glocester Comprehensive Community Plan;
    • (c) The proposed use shall be in harmony with the general purposes and intent of this chapter;
    • (d) The public convenience and welfare will be substantially served; and
    • (e) The proposed use shall not result in or create conditions that will be inimical to the public health, safety, morals and general welfare of the community.
  • (5) In granting a special use permit, the Board may apply such special conditions as may, in the opinion of the Board, be required to promote the intent and purposes of the Comprehensive Plan and this chapter of the Town. Those special conditions shall be based on competent credible evidence on the record, be incorporated into the decision, and may include, but not be limited to, provisions for:
    • (a) Minimizing adverse impact of the development upon other land, including the type, intensity, design, and performance of activities;
    • (b) Controlling the sequence of development, including when it must be commenced and completed;
    • (c) Controlling the duration of use or development and the time within which any temporary structure must be removed;
    • (d) Assuring satisfactory installation and maintenance of required public improvements;
    • (e) Designating the exact location and nature of development; and
    • (f) Establishing detailed records by submission of drawings, maps, plats, or specifications.
  • (6) In the event that a special use permit is sought with a dimension variance, the Board must make affirmative findings consistent with the granting of a special use permit and dimensional variance and the following:
    • (a) The special use permit could not exist without the dimensional variance;
    • (b) The approval will not adversely affect the surrounding area and will not have an undesirable impact on abutting properties;
    • (c) Off-street parking and loading areas are adequate for the proposal;
    • (d) Outdoor lighting is designed and located in a manner which complements the character of the neighborhood;
    • (e) The use will not disrupt the neighborhood or the privacy of abutting landowners by excessive noise, light or excessive traffic; and
    • (f) The approval will not pose a threat to the groundwater and/or drinking water supply.