2-1-060 Hearing Officer

A. Creation. The position of Hearing Officer is created pursuant to the enabling authority granted by the County Land Use Development & Management Act, Section 17-27a-701 of the Utah Code Annotated. The Hearing Officer shall replace in all respects the previous duties of the Board of Adjustment. Only one Hearing Officer shall consider and decide any matter properly presented for Hearing Officer Review. B. Appointment. The Hearing Officer shall be appointed by the county commission. The Hearing Officer shall serve at the discretion of the County Commission. The Hearing Officer shall either be law trained or have significant experience with land use laws and the requirements and operations of administrative hearing processes. C. Compensation. The Hearing Officer may be compensated on a contract basis, based upon meetings actually attended, work done, and reasonable and necessary expenses, as determined by the County Commission. D. Organization and Procedure. The Hearing Officer shall be organized and exercise its powers and duties as follows. 1. The Hearing Officer may adopt policies and procedures, consistent with the provisions of this Code and applicable law, to govern the conduct of its meetings, the processing of applications, and for any other purposes considered necessary for the functioning of the Hearing Officer. All such policies and procedures shall be submitted to the County Commission for review and approval. 2. The Hearing Officer shall meet as necessary to consider matters within its jurisdiction. All meetings shall be properly noticed and held in accordance with the Open Meetings Law set forth in Utah Code Ann. § 52-4-1, et seq., as amended. 3. Decisions of the Hearing Officer shall take effect on the date of the meeting or hearing where the decision is made, unless a different time is designated in the Hearing Officer’s rules, or at the time the decision is made. 4. The Hearing Officer shall keep written minutes of its proceedings, and keep records of its examinations and other official actions. The Hearing Officer may, but is not required to, have its proceedings contemporaneously transcribed or use a tape recorder. a. The Hearing Officer shall transmit reports of its official acts and recommendations to the County Commission. b. The minutes of all meetings of the Hearing Officer shall be prepared and filed in the office of the County Recorder. All such records shall be available for public review and access in accordance with the Government Records and Access Management Act, Utah Code Ann., § 63-2-101, et seq., as amended. E. Powers and Duties. The Hearing Officer shall have all the powers and duties, explicit or implied, given such Officers by Utah State law, including but not limited to the following: 1. Hear and decide appeals from zoning decisions applying the provisions of this Code, as provided in this Code, and in accordance with Section 2-2-180 of this Code; 2. Hear and decide appeals from Planning Commission decisions regarding conditional use permits, as provided in Section 2-2-100 of this Code; 3. Hear and decide appeals from Planning Commission decisions regarding site plans, as provided in Section 2-2-120; 4. Hear and decide variances from the terms of this Code, as provided in Section 22-130 of this Code; 5. Hear and decide appeals regarding the existence, expansion, or modification of nonconformities, as provided in Section 2-2-180 of this Code; and 6. Hear and decide appeals from a fee charged in accordance with Utah State Code Section 17-27a-509; and 7. The Hearing Officer shall act in a quasi-judicial manner; and 8. Serve as the final arbiter of issues involving the interpretation or application of land use ordinances; and 9. May not entertain an appeal of a matter in which the appeal authority, or any participating member, had first acted as the land use authority. Each of such powers and duties shall be exercised pursuant to the procedural and other provisions of this Code. F. Appeal. An appeal to the Hearing Officer shall be made as provided in Section 2-2-180 of this Code. G. Notice of Hearing. The Hearing Officer shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of each appeal, give public notice thereof and due notice to the parties in interest as provided in Section 2-180 of this Code. H. Appearance. At the hearing of any matter, the parties affected may appear in person with or without an attorney. I. Stay of Proceedings. An appeal to the Hearing Officer shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the Hearing Officer that by reason of facts stated in the appeal, a stay would, in his or her opinion, cause immediate peril to life or property. In such case, proceedings shall not be stayed except by a restraining order granted by the Hearing Officer or by the District Court upon application, notice, and due cause shown. J. Appeal. Any person adversely affected by a final decision of the Hearing Officer may petition the district court for a review of the decision as provided in Utah Code Ann. §§ 17-27a-801 as amended.