Zoning Board of Appeals

The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) is a 5-member board appointed by the Monroe Town Board. To qualify, a ZBA member must be at least 18 years of age, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the Town of Monroe (which can include residency in one of its Villages).  Each member must satisfy a training requirement of four hours annually in an eligible planning or zoning related education session.

The ZBA as the name indicates is a board of appeals. Applicants before the ZBA must be referred to the Board by either the Town of Monroe Building Department or the Town Planning Board. Referrals are made because a property owner is proposing new development, or may have an existing condition on their property, that does not strictly comply with the requirements of the Town of Monroe Code, Chapter 57 Zoning. Applications consist of one of four types; 1) Area Variances, 2) Use Variances, 3) Zoning Interpretations, or 4) a variance from Section 280-a of the Town Law (development along an unimproved Town road). After reviewing the facts of each case, the ZBA will render a decision to either grant or deny the variance requested. State law requires the ZBA to take the following factors into consideration in making its determination:

• whether an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood, or a detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting of the variance;
• whether the benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method which will be feasible for the applicant to pursue but would not require a variance;
• whether the requested variance is substantial;
• whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood or district; and
• whether an alleged difficulty is self-created.

ZBA members attend one evening meeting per month, conduct site visits on an as needed basis, and are required to review the applications to the Board prior to the scheduled meetings. The ZBA holds meetings once a month, generally on the fourth Tuesday of the month. Meetings start at 7:00 PM and tend to last two to three hours. ZBA meetings are video recorded during each session and broadcast to the Town of Monroe municipal access station.

LINKS

2025 NOTICE OF MEETING FOR THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

Click on the link below to view the Zoning Board Agendas and Minutes (2018 - current )
Zoning Board on BoardDocs (Click on the government statue in the upper right-hand corner to view strictly Zoning Board files.)

Zoning Board Projects & Archived Zoning Board Agendas and Minutes (2013 - 2018) can be found within the Zoning Board folder on our Document Center webpage.