Ordinance No. 131 Consolidated Land Use Ordinance

Home

SECTION 17. ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT 1. Enforcing Officer. 1. The Mayor shall appoint a Zoning Administrator, subject to the approval of the City Council, who shall have the duty and responsibility of enforcing and administering this Ordinance. 2. Building Permit. No structure shall hereafter be erected, or structurally altered until a building permit shall have been issued indicating that the existing or proposed structure and the use of land, comply with this Ordinance and all Building Codes. All applications for building permits pertaining to the erection, or major alteration which will affect the outside dimensions of a structure shall be accompanied by three (3) copies of a site plan to scale showing the actual dimensions of the lot, lots or parcel to be built upon, the dimensions of the ground plan and the extensions beyond the outside wall of the proposed structures to be erected or structurally altered, their location on the site in relation to the outside boundary and such other information as may be necessary to provide for the enforcement of these regulations. One copy of the site plan is to be approved and is to be made available on the site. 3. Duties of the Zoning Administrator. 1. The Zoning Administrator shall enforce this Ordinance and in addition thereto and in furtherance of said authority he shall: 1. Conduct inspections of buildings and use of land to determine compliance with the terms of this Ordinance; 2. Maintain permanent and current records of this Ordinance, including but not limited to, all maps, amendments, and conditional and interim uses, variances, appeals and applications, thereto; 3. Receive, file and forward all applications for zoning amendments, variances, conditional or interim uses or other matters to the Planning Commission and City Council; 4. Institute in the name of the City of Gem Lake any appropriate actions or proceeding against a violator as provided by law; 5. Approve all building permits, submitted by the Building Inspector, after determining that the permit is in compliance with this Ordinance. This approval must be made before the permit is issued; 6. Act as Chairman of the Gem Lake Plan Review Commission. 2. The City Council may, on prior recommendation of the Zoning Administrator, empower the Ramsey County Sheriff in specific instances to perform any of the acts which the Zoning Administrator is directed or authorized to perform by this Section. 4. Variances. Purpose and Intent. The City Council, sitting as the Board of Appeal and Adjustment, may grant Variances from the strict applications of the provisions of this Zoning Ordinance and impose conditions and safeguards in the Variances so granted. These Variances shall be considered in cases where by reason of narrowness, shallowness, or shape of a lot or where by reason of exceptional topographic or water conditions or where other extraordinary and exceptional conditions of such lot exist, the strict application of the terms of the Zoning Ordinance would result in practical difficulties upon the owner of such lot in complying with the regulations of the zoning district in which said lot is located. "Practical difficulties," as used in connection with the grant of a variance, means that the property owner proposes to use the property in a reasonable manner not permitted by the zoning ordinance; the plight of the landowner is due to circumstances unique to the property not created by the landowner; and the variance, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the locality. Economic considerations alone do not constitute practical difficulties. Practical difficulties include, but are not limited to, inadequate access to direct sunlight for solar energy systems. A variance may not be granted to allow any use that is not allowed in the zoning district in which the property is located. Updated January 2025 — Gem Lake Consolidated Land Use Ordinance No. 131 80