Two of the least understood boards in Waterford government are the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Board of Assessment Appeals.

Both of these boards relate to real estate and personal property. In many municipalities, these boards are appointed by the Board of Selectmen or Town Council. In Waterford, I suspect that the Town Fathers, when they drafted the initial charter in the 1950s and 1960s, decided these boards, which both deal with appeals from the citizens, should be chosen directly by the citizens.

The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has five regular members and three alternate members. On Nov. 7, three regular members and two alternate members will be elected.

The ZBA is unique because of the quasi-judicial nature of its proceedings. The ZBA powers and duties are carefully delineated by Connecticut State Statutes (CGS 8-6).

The ZBA may hear and decide (1) appeals of actions of the town zoning officials; (2) variations from the zoning regulations set by the Planning and Zoning Commission; (3) any special exceptions and exemptions to the specific terms of the zoning regulations.

The ZBA must consider whether the regulation imposes an unusual hardship on the plaintiff and the variation does not impact public safety or welfare.

The ZBA hearings follow a set procedure with verbatim records since its actions are appealable to the Superior Court. Unlike an Board of Selectmen or Representative Town Meeting meeting, citizens may speak only during specific times during a public hearing and never during the meeting portion of the meeting when the ZBA is deliberating its decision. This difference is often not recognized by the public and may cause an aggrieved person to walk out of the hearing in disgust because their statement was out of order.

The applicant must place all of the appropriate documentation in the appeal request. The applicant must show how the regulations will result in exceptional difficulty or unusual hardship. 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 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.

Most hearings in front of the ZBA are routine. Some a homeowners wants to make an improvement to their property but, due to the size of the lot, must encroach on the required vacant space between properties. On occasion, there may be a hearing to completely ignore or change a zoning regulation to build a non conforming structure or to permit a non conforming use for the land/structure. Those hearings generally draw a crowd and end up in court.

Next week, we will look at the Board of Assessment Appeals.

John W. “Bill” Sheehan is a former Democratic Town Committee chairman.