Guide to the Board of Adjustment Annual Reports 1957-1969

Overview of the Collection

	Repository Name:		Seattle Municipal Archives PO Box 94728 600 Fourth Avenue, Floor 3 Seattle, WA 98124-4728 Phone: 206/233-7807 Email: archives@seattle.gov http://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives
	Collection Number:		1802-F2
	Creator:		Seattle (Wash.). City Clerk
	Title:		Board of Adjustment Annual Reports
	Dates:		1957-1969 (inclusive)
	Quantity:		.2 cubic foot 1 box
	Languages:		Collection materials are in English.
	Summary:		Annual reports of the Board of Adjustment, 1957-1968.

Historical Note

The Board of Adjustment was created in 1957 by the new Zoning Ordinance, which was based on a Comprehensive Plan for the City. It was a division of the City Planning commission and had power to hear, decide, and grant or deny applications for variances and conditional use permits. The Board had seven members, appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council; members served for up to to three years. The Board began hearing zoning and variance appeals from decisions of the Hearing Examiner following the latter's creation in 1973. In 1980, application and appeal processes were consolidated in the Department of Construction and Land Use with development of the Master Use Permit system. The Board's functions were superseded and it was abolished in 1981 its "appellate functions" were transferred to the Office of the Hearing Examiner.

Content Description

The Board of Adjustment Annual Reports date from 1957 to 1968 and contain statistics on conditional use, variance, and special exception applications received and actions taken. Also included with each report is a narrative discussing the year's events, Board's suggestions to the Planning Commission, Board member appointments, organization charts, referrals from the Superintendent of Buildings, number of hours worked by Board members, and other important issues. Most reports discuss the Board of Adjustment's role as a "leavening agent" which provided "needed flexibility" to the Zoning Ordinance; however, the importance of "careful and practical application of established Ordinance standards" is also stressed.

Arrangement

Annual reports are arranged chronologically by year.

Administrative Information

Custodial History

Records were originally filed with the City Clerk in the Comptroller/Clerk's Files (CFs) and were removed to create this record series.

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Access

Records are open to the public.

Preferred Citation

[Item and date], Board of Adjustment Annual Reports, Record Series 1802-F2. Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.

Subjects

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Seattle (Wash.)--Politics and government

Building permits--Washington (State)--Seattle

Building--Washington (State)--Seattle

City planning--Washington (State)--Seattle

Land use--Washington (State)--Seattle

Zoning boards--Washington (State)--Seattle

Zoning--Washington (State)--Seattle

Annual reports

Other Creators :

Seattle (Wash.). Board of Adjustment

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Board of Adjustment Annual Reports, 1957-1969