Lee County Board of Adjustment

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The Lee County Board of Adjustment shall hear and decide requests for Variances from the terms/standards of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), requests for Special Use Permits as specified per the UDO, appeals from the decisions of the Community Development Department in which it is alleged there is an error in an order, requirement, decision or determination made by the staff in the enforcement of the UDO,  appeals from the decisions of the Historic Preservation Commission , interpretations of the Official Zoning Map, and shall pass upon disputed questions of lot lines or district boundary lines and similar questions that may arise in the administration of the UDO. These decisions involve determining the facts of the case and exercising some degree of judgement and discretion. These decisions are called quasi-judicial decisions, and they are subject to rather demanding procedural rules set forth by the courts, including the requirement of a formal evidentiary hearing. The hearings must be conducted in a fair and impartial manner, with the purpose being to gathering the necessary evidence on which to base a decision, rather than broadly soliciting public comment.  Simply put, the BOA must determine the facts of the case and then it must apply the standards in the ordinance (UDO) to the case.