What Does The ZBA and BAA Do?

There are two elected appeals boards that will be on the November ballot, the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) and the Board of Assessment Appeals (BAA).  The ZBA deals with property and the zoning regulations.  The BAA hears the requests for lowering the assessed value of a home or business (I have never heard of an appeal if the assessed value is less than the home owner expected.  Today’s column will describe where these two boards receive the authority to act in the Town of Waterford.

Charter

The Charter states that the BAA shall have such powers and responsibilities as described in Chapter 203 of the State Statutes and that the ZBA will have the powers and duties as specified in Chapter 124 of the State Statutes.  It also states that there will be five members and three alternates for the ZBA and the number of members of the BAA will be in accordance with State Statutes.

Ordinances

The general board listing article of the Code of Ordinances lists the BAA and the ZBA as required boards in the town that shall report as outlined in state statutes and town ordinances. 

In January 2008 the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) approved an ordinance change to permit the RTM to appoint additional members for a term of one year to the BAA in a revaluation year due to the increased number of appeals during that short period.

The ordinances define the term of ZBA members and alternates as four years with three members and two alternates elected in one cycle and two members and one alternate elected in the next cycle.  The election in November 2011 is the two member, and one alternate cycle.

The fees to be collected for hearing variance requests are set by ordinance.  The current fee is $10 for the State of Connecticut plus $175 for a residential property and $350 for multifamily or commercial property.  A location approval variance also costs an additional $350.

The ZBA must get an opinion from the Harbor Management Commission for any variance requests for properties that are on the coast line.

State Statutes

Board of Assessment Appeals

According to state statutes, the BAA shall have three members elected for four years and, if legislation is approved by the legislative body of the town, additional members may be appointed for revaluation years.  The Town Assessor is not eligible to be elected to the BAA. 

By state statute, the salary of the members of the BAA is set at $100.00 per year.  It is the only board whose salary is set by statute.

There are many articles in state statutes outlining the duties of the BAA and how it is to rule on assessment appeals.  It must be guided by the various exemptions granted in statutes as well as accepted valuation guide lines. A ruling of a BAA may be appealed to a superior court.  The State Office of Policy Management (OPM) may charge a BAA with improper performance of duties before a superior court if such improper performance is determined by an OPM investigation.

The BAA must complete its hearings on assessment appeals by the end of April and the Board of Finance (BOF) may not set the tax rate until the BAA has completed its hearings and set the final valuation of the Grand List to be used for assessing taxes.

If there is official misconduct in setting the assessment, the individual members of the BAA “shall forfeit fifty dollars to the person aggrieved thereby…”  This statute also applies to Assessors, Tax Collectors, Selectmen, and Members of the BOF (CGS 12-170).

Zoning Board of Appeals

As one of the Land Use Commissions in Town, the ZBA has a unique position.  State Statues establish membership as five members with three alternates.  The alternates only formally vote on an appeal when one or more of the regular members is absent or has to withdraw from an appeal hearing due to a potential conflict of interest.  The ZBA is required to keep detailed minutes of each decision and the vote on the decision.

The powers and duties of the ZBA are specifically laid out in the statutes.  It 1) hears and decides appeals of an order of the town zoning officer.  2)  hears and decides on any special exemptions or exceptions to a particular zoning regulation, ordinance, or bylaw.  3)  determines and varies the application of zoning regulations, ordinances, or bylaws “…in harmony with their general purpose and intent and with due consideration for conserving public health, safety, convenience, welfare, and property values solely with respect to a parcel of land…” (CGS 8-6) where enforcement of the regulations would result in “…exceptional difficulty or unusual hardship…” 

Because of the quasi-judicial nature of the ZBA public hearings, those hearings are different than a public hearing by the Board of Selectmen, BOF, or RTM.  The applicant must place all of the appropriate documentation in the appeal request.  The Applicant must show how the regulations will result in the exceptional difficulty or unusual hardship mentioned above.  The ZBA will notify adjacent property owners of the request and they will be offered an opportunity to support or oppose the variance request during the public hearing.  The recent appeal on The Strand  was a good example of the ZBA procedures.  The public hearing was long, involved, detailed, and with many attorneys on both sides of the issue.  The ZBA may only consider information that is brought up during the hearing.  Any information learned outside of the hearing must be disregarded by a member of the ZBA during the decision making process.  Normally, the applicant presents his information and documentation.  Any other person may present written or oral information to the ZBA for consideration while the public hearing is open.  Near the end of the public hearing, the applicant is given an opportunity to rebut any claims by persons opposed to the application or make adjustments to the application to satisfy any objections.  The Chairman of the ZBA then closes the hearing and the ZBA will discuss the information provided and determine if “an unusual hardship or exceptional difficulty” exists and what relief, if any, will be provided the applicant.  As previously noted, only information provided during the public hearing may considered while making the decision.

The procedures for the hearing and time line for a decision are defined in the state statutes.  Decisions of the ZBA may be appealed to the superior court.

In Closing

This concludes a series of columns on the various town officials and board members that will be on the ballot in November.  I hope these columns will provide the voters with a better background on the responsibilities and duties of the various officials, boards, and agencies and permit the voter to make a more educated decision when voting in November.  Please let me know if you have any further questions.