FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Ethics law training might be coming to Fairhope in the near future for city staff and officials.

“We’ll probably have some ethics training in the next few months,” Planning Director Jonathan Smith said at Monday’s Board of Adjustment meeting.

That comment was made during a discussion of the adoption of bylaws for the board, which includes a code of ethics.

The board voted unanimously to adopt the board’s first set of bylaws.

The city’s Board of Adjustment handles requests for variances from the zoning ordinance and appeals from decisions by municipal officers or officials in the enforcement of the zoning ordinance, according to the newly adopted bylaws and state law.

The idea to have ethics training for city employees and officials was suggested at a recent Planning and Zoning Commission meeting by commission member Gary Moore.

Moore, an attorney, is credited with including a code of ethics in the commission’s bylaws, Smith said.

The board’s new code of ethics uses the same language as the commission’s code of ethics.

Those codes of ethics are based, in part, upon the state ethics law, Smith said.

“That’s one of the primary documents that (Moore) used,” Smith said, referring to the state ethics law and how the commission’s code of ethics was developed

One provision of the board’s new bylaws states that “members should refrain from participating in any proceeding in which their impartiality may reasonably be questioned. A member whose personal, employment or business relationship with a person or entity that is subject to a recommendation of the board shall seek the advice and counsel of the board attorney (or if there is no attorney for the board, the city attorney), if such relationship could conceivably influence the member’s impartiality during the board’s discussion of the subject.”

The board took no other official action at Monday’s meeting, other than adopting minutes from its last meeting in October, but did discuss what kind of law and guidelines it should follow in making its decisions.

Chris Gill, commission attorney, said he had provided the planning department with legal guidance about the board’s decision-making process and would make that available to the board.

Gill said state law requires decisions by the board of adjustment to be by a supermajority of 4 or 5 rather than a simple majority, which is required for most decisions by other municipal bodies.

“That sets a pretty high burden,” Gill said, referring to applicants for variances and petitioners for a decision before the board.

The city’s Board of Adjustment has received little public or media attention during the past year regarding some of the city’s more controversial zoning issues. Most of that attention has focused on decisions made by the Planning and Zoning Commission, and appeals from those decisions to the City Council.

Although boards of adjustment are best known for handling variance cases, state law gives them power to handle zoning issues other than variance applications.

In addition to those cases, the board is also authorized “to hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by an administrative official in the enforcement of this article or of any ordinance adopted pursuant thereto.”

Such appeals may be taken by any person aggrieved or by any officer, department, board or bureau of the municipality affected by any decision of the administrative officer, according to Alabama law.

The statute also provides that in exercising its powers, the board “may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from and may make such order, requirement, decision or determination as ought to be made and, to that end shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken.”

The statutory section under which the powers and duties of boards of adjustments are enumerated also includes this language:

“In case any building or structure is erected, constructed, reconstructed, altered, repaired, converted or maintained or any building, structure or land is used in violation of this article or of any ordinance or other regulation made under authority conferred by this article, the proper local authorities of the municipality, in addition to other remedies, may institute any appropriate action or proceedings to prevent such unlawful erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, conversion, maintenance or use, to restrain, correct or abate such violation, to prevent the occupancy of such building, structure or land or to prevent any illegal act, conduct, business or use in or about such premises.”

The board members present at Monday’s meeting were Stan Grubin, Bob Mannich (chair), Cathy Slagle and Anil Vera. Not present were Suzanne Winston and Louis Agee (vice chair). Vera is an alternate member of the board.