Did You Receive a Letter From Us?
Did you get a letter from the Community Development Department? If you
did, the letter was sent for one of three reasons: a neighboring
property is requesting a zone change; a neighboring property is
requesting a variance or conditional use; or the department is
requesting you correct a zoning or property maintenance violation.
Zone Change Request
Whenever a property owner requests a change in the zoning
classification for his property, the Township is required to notify
all neighboring property owners with 200 feet of a public hearing on
the zone change request. The first zoning hearing is held before the
Miami Township Zoning Commission. After the Zoning Commission public
hearing and recommendation, a second public hearing is held before the
Miami Township Trustees. You will also receive a letter inviting you
to this public hearing.
If you receive a letter inviting you to a public hearing, the
Township encourages you to attend and voice your opinion on the
proposed zone change request. The public hearing allows the Zoning
Commission an opportunity to collect as much information as possible
before making a decision on the request. If you cannot attend you may
send a letter to the Township expressing your opinion on the request.
Variance or Conditional Use
Whenever a property owner is requesting a variance or conditional
use, the Township is required to notify all property owners that are
directly adjoining or are across the street from the property making
the request. All hearings on variances and conditional uses are held
before the Miami Township Board of Zoning Appeals. In the case of a
variance or conditional use, there is only one public hearing. The
Board of Appeals will make the final decision on all variances and
conditional uses.
If you receive a letter inviting you to a public hearing, the
Township encourages you to attend and voice your opinion on the
proposed variance or conditional use. Unlike the Zoning Commission,
letters cannot be sent to the Board of Appeals. As a quasi-judicial,
body all comments must be made in person.
Zoning or Property Maintenance Violation
Your first notification of a zoning or property maintenance
violation will usually be a ten day courtesy notice. This notice which
is hand delivered will describe the violation and will state you have
ten days to correct the violation. If for some reason you cannot
correct the violation within the ten days you can call the Community
Development Department and request a time extension. As long as the
property owner is making a good faith effort to correct the violation
an extension will be granted.
If the violation is not corrected within ten days and if the
department has not heard from the property owner, an official
thirty-day violation will be mailed. This notice requires the
violation to be corrected within 30 days. If the violation is not
corrected within the thirty days, legal action can be pursued.
