All districts
The Zoning Board of Appeals has seven members appointed by City Council (Section 7.10.1). Appeals from a decision of the Building Official or Planning Commission must be filed within 30 days (Section 7.10.3).
A dimensional (non-use) variance requires showing a practical difficulty: unique circumstances or physical conditions of the property not self-created, that strict compliance would unreasonably prevent use of the property or be unnecessarily burdensome, that the variance is the minimum necessary to do substantial justice, and that it will not harm surrounding properties (Section 7.10.5.A.ii.a). A use variance requires the stiffer showing of undue hardship, including that the property cannot reasonably be used for any use permitted in its district (Section 7.10.5.A.ii.b).
Site plan review under Section 6.1 is a separate track: it applies to essentially all construction except single-family homes, with Planning Commission approval required unless the project fits an administrative review category such as small additions under 1,000 square feet or parking lot modifications (Section 6.1.1).