Title
Consideration of an appointment to the Board of Zoning Appeals
Purpose
PURPOSE/BACKGROUND:
Below are the rules and qualifications pertaining to Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) appointments:
RULES
-- By state code, BZA members are appointed by the Circuit Court (not the City Council). There are 5 members.
-- Because they are Circuit Court appointments, section 3.12 of the Charter that limits City Council appointees to 2 successive terms plus the portion of an unexpired term occurring by reason of vacancy does not apply.
QUALIFICATIONS - Legal requirements (Virginia Code § 15.2-2308(A), mirrored in Zoning Ordinance § 13-1)
--Must all be residents of the City of Hampton
--“Members of the board shall hold no other public office in the locality except that one may be a member of the local planning commission.”
--“Public office” is not defined in this context but, generally speaking, this would prohibit dual, concurring appointments for BZA members. e.g., a citizen could not serve on the Economic Development Authority at the same time that they serve on the BZA. This would likely not apply to a citizen serving on a purely advisory committee or board, but if City Council wants to recommend someone already serving in another capacity, the appointment should be pre-reviewed by the City Attorney’s Office to prevent a conflict. It may also have COIA implications.
The members of the Board of Zoning Appeals are appointed by the Hampton Circuit Court Judges. Pursuant to the Board of Zoning Appeals Bylaws (2013), "When a vacancy occurs, prospective candidate names will be considered by the Zoning Administrator, forwarded to the Board for review and then sent to City Council for a recommendation to the Judges of the Circuit Court for their consideration to make appointments to the Board." In the future, staff would prefer to eliminate the BZA recommendation as part of the process since it can create an awkward situation where BZA members are discussing reappointment of one of their own.
John C. "Jack" Pope was first appointed on March, 2002, to fill the unexpired term of Jospeh Spencer, who was filling the position vacated by Tom Gear when he beame a member of City Council. Based upon this information, Mr. Pope has served an unexpired term plus two successive 5-year terms.
Terry P. O'Neill, Director of Community Development, has advised that Jeff Conkle, Zoning Administrator, has discussed this impending vacancy with the current appointees of the Board of Zoning Appeals and it is their recommendation that Mr. Pope be reappointed to serve an additional term.
There are individuals in the Board Bank who have expressed a desire to serve on this board. Those applications are being provided to Council. Please note that two of the applicants Ms. Cyr (Board of Review of Real Estate Assessment) and Mr. Warren (Purchasing and Procurement Oversight Committee) are currently serving as Council appointees.
Recommendation:
Rec
Council shall direct the Clerk to communicate with the Chief Judge of the Hampton Circuit Court making the Court aware of the impending vacancy and offer any recommendation which they may have.