Zoning Board of Appeals

Zoning Board of Appeals Members

Chairman

Ben Schilling

Member

Wendy Fitzgerald

Member

Todd Tirotta

Member

Thom Brown

Member

Glenn Feirick - Board Rep.

Member

Jean Rowe - Alternate

Zoning Board of Appeals Information

Board meets first Wednesday of month (as needed) or as scheduled for a hearing.

ZBA fees $1,100.00 as of 5/1/2021

Click here to view the Zoning Board of Appeals Application. This form should not be filled out before speaking with Mark Davis, Zoning Administrator to determine if a ZBA hearing is needed: 269-414-3159 or sczoning@sisterlakescable.com.

Zoning Board of Appeals Functions

The ZBA is a quasi-judicial body with two principal functions:

To hear and decide appeals of administrative decisions made by the Zoning Administrator during enforcement of the Silver Creek Township Zoning Ordinance; and
To hear and decide requests for variances from the strict terms of the Zoning Ordinance.

If you are requesting a variance, you must establish (prove to the ZBA) that your property has an existing “practical difficulty” in order for the variance to be granted. A practical difficulty is essentially the inability to comply with existing ordinances due to the unique characteristics of the property and this difficulty was not created by the property owner/applicant or prior owner.

Consider the Following Questions Before You Apply

Is there reasonable evidence of a practical difficulty unique to the property? (If the ZBA determines there is not reasonable evidence of practical difficulty, your appeal hearing may end at this point.) Practical difficulty does not include: the desire to build a structure bigger than allowed by the current setbacks; comparison to your neighbors; increasing the property value or failure of your contractor to follow the ordinance.
Is the variance requested because of any action of the applicant, owner, or predecessor?

A Valid Application Consists of the Following

Seven (7) copies of a site plan drawn to scale, identifying the nature of the request.
A completed application form (including flag receipt form).
Payment of the eleven hundred-dollar ($1,100.00) application fee (non-refundable).
A survey.
A legal description of the property.

Resubmission

No variance request, or substantially similar request, previously acted on by the ZBA, shall be submitted for reconsideration within one (1) year from the date of the original application. After the one (1) year period, the application will only be considered if the applicant first demonstrates the following:  

All of the conditions/reasons for the original denial have been significantly altered 
New conditions or circumstances exist which change the nature of the original request.

Appeal

You may file an appeal with the 43rd Circuit Court within 30 days of receipt of the decision of the ZBA. Additional fees may apply.