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HomeMy WebLinkAbout695-BA DATE: December 3, 2015 TO: Board of Adjustment FROM: Adina Ward, Planner II SUBJECT: To consider an appeal of the Planning staff’s interpretation of Section 28.04.005(b)2 as allowed in Section 28.02.005 of the City of Beaumont Zoning Ordinance. FILE: 695-BA STAFF REPORT Thinh Cong Nguyen has asked that the Board hear an appeal to a decision made by the Planning Division staff. Section 28.02.005(c) of the Beaumont, Texas Code of Ordinance allows for such an appeal and states: Appeal process. Appeals to the board can be taken by any person aggrieved or by an officer, department, or board or bureau of the municipality affected by any decision of the administrative officer. Such appeal shall be taken within a reasonable time after the decision has been rendered by the administrative officer, by filing with the officer from whom the appeal is taken and with the board, a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof. The officer from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the board all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed was taken. In June of 2014, Mrs. Nguyen appealed a decision of the board stating it had been less than one year since her property had been utilized for a commercial establishment. The board found that it had been just over a year, but granted Mrs. Nguyen her appeal. In October of 2015, Mrs. Nguyen attempted, once again, to reopen the property as a commercial use. Section 28.04.005(b)2 of the Beaumont, Texas Code of Ordinance states: Any building, structure or land which is occupied or used as a lawful nonconforming use which shall become vacant or unused for a continuous period of one year shall not thereafter be occupied or used except for a use which conforms to the use regulations of the district in which it is located. Provided, however, that nonconforming field crops may be reestablished when the land has been unused for a period of time not exceeding three (3) years. For the purposes of this paragraph “vacant” or “unused” shall mean the nonconforming use has been intentionally abandoned. The temporary suspension of a use shall not constitute abandonment, provided the property is not used during the period of suspension for any other purpose. Mrs. Nguyen states that the property has not been in use since her last appeal, but that she thought the granted appeal gave her the right to always use the property for commercial uses.