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HomeMy WebLinkAbout059 - 04/19/1994 - AMENDING CITY CODE PERTAINING TO THE PRESENTATION OF APPEALS TO THE CITY COUNCIL ORDINANCE NO. 59, 1994 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AMENDING CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE II, DIVISION 3, OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS PERTAINING TO THE PRESENTATION OF APPEALS TO THE CITY COUNCIL WHEREAS, the City Code contains a procedure for hearing appeals to the Council from certain boards and commissions of the City; and WHEREAS, the Council believes that certain amendments should be made to the Code so as to clarify the City Council 's role in hearing such appeals and so as to otherwise clarify and improve the procedure for hearing the same. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That Section 2-48 of the Code of the City is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 2-48. Appeal of final decision permitted. A party-in-interest may appeal to the City Council the final decision of any board or commission to which this appeal procedure applies in the manner provided in this Division. Except for appeals by members of the City Council , for which no grounds need be stated, the permissible grounds for appeal shall be limited to allegations that the board or commission committed one (1) or more of the following errors: (1) Failure to properly interpret and apply relevant provisions of the Code and Charter; (2) Failure to conduct a fair hearing in that: a. The board or commission exceeded its authority or jurisdiction as contained in the Code or Charter; b. The board or commission substantially ignored its previously established rules of procedure; C. The board or commission considered evidence relevant to its findings which was substantially false or grossly misleading; or d. The board or commission improperly failed to receive all relevant evidence offered by the appellant. Section 2. That Section 2-51 of the Code of the City is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 2-51. Amended notice of appeal permitted. An amended notice of appeal may be filed by the appellant at any time prior to the time for mailing by the City Clerk of notice of the appeal to other parties-in-interest as contained in § 2-54. Such amended notice of appeal shall contain all of the information required under § 2-49 for the original notice of appeal . Amendments to the notice of appeal need not be limited to those defects, if any, which have been identified by the City Attorney. Section 3. That Section 2-53(3) of the Code of the City is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 2-53. Record on appeal . (3) A verbatim transcript of such proceedings before the board or commission. The cost of the transcript shall be borne by the city. Section 4. That Section 2-55 of the Code of the City is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 2-55. Procedure at the hearing. (a) At the hearing on the appeal by the City Council , the presentation of argument on the merits of the appeal shall be made in the following order, subject to such limitations in time and scope as may be imposed at the discretion of the Mayor: (1) Explanation of the nature of the appeal and presentation by city staff; (2) Presentation of argument by the appellant and any party- in-interest in support of the appeal ; (3) Presentation of argument by any party-in-interest who is an opponent of the appeal ; (4) Rebuttal presentation by the appellant and any party-in- interest in support of the appeal ; (5) Rebuttal presentation by any party-in-interest who is an opponent of the appeal ; and (6) Motion, discussion and vote by the City Council . (b) No person making a presentation to the City Council shall be subject to cross-examination except that members of the City Council and the City Attorney may inquire of such person for the purpose of eliciting information and for the purpose of clarifying information presented. (c) In the event of multiple appeals involving the same decision of a board or commission, the Mayor, in his or her discretion, may modify the procedure contained in subparagraph (a) above so as to expedite the hearing of such appeals. Section 5. That Section 2-56 of the Code of the City is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 2-56. New evidence; scope of review; alternative actions available to the City Council ; and date of final action. (a) The City Council shall consider an appeal based upon the record- on- appeal, the relevant provisions- of the Code- and Charter and the grounds for appeal cited in the Notice of Appeal . New evidence shall not be considered on appeal except to the extent that such new evidence is offered in support of or in opposition to an allegation under § 2-48(2) (c) that a board or commission considered evidence relevant to its findings which was substantially false or grossly misleading. Any such new evidence shall be limited to that which directly rebuts or supports the allegedly false or misleading evidence. The Mayor, upon the advice of the City Attorney, shall determine the admissibility of all evidence at the hearing on appeal , which determination may be overturned by majority vote of the members of the Council present at the hearing. (b) In considering an allegation that a board or commission failed to properly interpret and apply the relevant provisions of the Code or Charter asserted under § 2-48(1) , the City Council shall determine how such provisions should, in the Council 's judgment, be applied to the evidence contained in the record on appeal . (c) At the conclusion of such hearing, the City Council shall uphold, overturn ormodify the decision ofthe board orcommission;- provided, however, that the City Council shall instead remand the matter for rehearing if it finds that the appellant was denied a fair hearing before the board or commission for any of the reasons stated in § 2-48(2) . No later than the date of its next regular meeting, the City Council shall adopt, by resolution, findings of fact in support of its decision. The date of passage of such resolution shall be the date of final action of the City Council for the purpose of any subsequent judicial review of the decision of the City Council . Introduced, considered favorably:ayor first readi and ordered published this 5th day of April , A.D. 1994, and be pres ed or final g on the 19th day of April , A.D. 1994. ATTEST: City Clerk—/ Passed and adopted on final reading this 19th of April , A.D 1994. ay r ATTEST: nn ••cam City Clerk