§ 16.70.010.6. Appeals.

A.

Applicability. This section establishes procedures that shall apply to any appeal which is expressly authorized by this chapter.

1.

This section shall not apply to any request for judicial review which may be available as and to the extent permitted by State or federal law.

2.

This section shall not apply to any action initiated by the City Council which is referred to any commission for review and recommendation to the City Council regardless of the vote taken by a Commission, in such cases an appeal shall not be required to transmit the matter back to the City Council for further consideration.

3.

This section shall not apply to any notice of violation for which review by the Development Review Commission or by the Code Enforcement Board is expressly authorized by this chapter.

B.

Who may hear appeals. Except for decisions which are declared by these regulations to be the final decision of the City:

1.

A decision of the Development Review Commission to approve or deny an application may be appealed to the City Council in the manner designated in the Decisions and Appeals Table.

2.

A decision of the Community Planning and Preservation Commission to approve or deny an application may be appealed to the City Council in the manner designated in the Decisions and Appeals Table.

3.

A decision of the POD to approve or deny an application may be appealed to a Commission or the City Council in the manner designated in the Decisions and Appeals Table.

4.

The City may not establish appellate jurisdiction of the courts; however, if allowed by the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure or other rule or judicial decision, a decision of the City Council or of the POD or any commission of the City which is declared by these regulations to be the final decision of the City may be subject to judicial review in the manner provided by law.

C.

Who may appeal. Any appeal allowed by this chapter may only be made by a resident of the City unless otherwise specifically provided by this chapter. If the appellant was the applicant before the decision-making body whose decision is being appealed, that appellant shall be the only appellant. If the appellant is not the applicant, and more than one appeal is filed in response to any one decision, the appellants shall attempt to agree on a single representative to participate in the appeal proceeding. If the appellants cannot agree on a single representative, then each appellant's representative shall share equally the time allotted to the appellant for initial presentation, cross-examination, rebuttal and closing. Appellants sharing time may make a request for additional initial presentation time to the POD no later than ten days after notice of the appeal is posted pursuant to Section 16.70.010.6 (H). The appellant(s) requesting additional time must do so in writing, and must state reasonable grounds for the extension. In no event shall the time for initial presentation by the multiple appellants be extended in excess of five additional minutes for multiple appeals. If additional time is allotted to the appellants, the same amount of additional time shall be allotted to the applicant and to City Administration for initial presentation. There shall be no extension of time allotted to the multiple appellants for cross-examination, rebuttal and closing. City Council shall have the power on its own motion to review on appeal a decision of any Commission concerning any matter upon which a commission has acted within ten days preceding the City Council's decision.

D.

Time for filing notice of appeal. A notice of appeal shall be filed in writing not later than 5:00 p.m. on the tenth day after the decision sought to be reviewed has been made, except that notice of appeal of a property card interpretation or zoning, rebuild or buildable lot letter shall be filed not later than the 30th day after the PCI or letter is mailed. The decision of a commission is made when it takes a final vote on a matter. The decision of the POD is made when it is mailed to the person who made the application or request.

E.

Place for filing notice of appeal. A notice of appeal shall be filed with the City Clerk, who shall transmit a copy thereof to the POD and, if the appeal is from a decision of a commission, to the clerk of the Commission. The City clerk shall not accept any appeal which is not in writing, for which the appeal period has expired, or which does not include the required fees and costs.

F.

Costs and fees for appeal. The appellant shall pay the City for the actual costs of notices required to be mailed or published by the City. The City Council may adopt a schedule of additional fees to be paid in connection with any appeal. Payment of costs (or an estimate by the POD of the anticipated costs) and fees shall be required at the time the notice of appeal is filed.

G.

Contents of notice of appeal. A notice of appeal need not be in any particular form but shall include as a minimum the following information: The name and address of the appellant, and of legal counsel for the appellant if represented by counsel; a summary of the decision sought to be reviewed; and a summary of the basis for the appeal. If the appeal claims incompatibility with the plan, all the specific plan sections with which the decision is claimed to be incompatible shall be identified. If additional incompatible Plan sections are identified after the notice of appeal is filed, the City and applicant shall be notified thereof in writing by the appellant not less than two weeks prior to the hearing on the appeal. A copy of the decision or staff report appealed from shall be filed with the notice of appeal.

H.

Notices of hearing of appeal.

1.

Written notice of the date, time and place of the hearing of an appeal shall be provided by hand-delivery or by mail to the applicant, owner and appellant if the appellant is not also the applicant.

2.

Written and posted notice shall be provided by the City.

3.

Notice costs for all appeals shall be borne by the appellant(s).

4.

Failure to give such notice, except notice to the applicant, owner and appellant, shall not affect the action of a Commission or the City Council.

I.

Reserved.

J.

Hearing of appeal.

1.

In an appeal from a decision of the POD, the appeal shall be heard by the Commission which is expressly authorized to hear the appeal.

2.

The City Council shall hear the appeal from a decision of any Commission for which an appeal to the City Council is expressly authorized by this chapter. If the decision appealed is a recommended denial of a proposed ordinance, the hearing on the appeal shall also be the public hearing for the ordinance and shall be scheduled at a time after first reading of the ordinance. The City Council shall have all the powers concerning the item on appeal as the Commission had initially. The City Council shall follow all applicable ordinances in arriving at its decision, may receive new evidence and shall not be bound by the strict rules of evidence.

3.

An appeal shall be heard within 60 days of the filing of a notice of appeal; provided, however, that the POD may extend the time period within which an appeal shall be heard for no more than 30 additional days for the purpose of accommodating the schedules of the decision-making body hearing the appeal and all parties involved in the appeal proceeding.

4.

The City Council may remand the matter back to the Commission for review of modifications of the decision if, in the judgment of the City Council, further consideration and modifications appear necessary or reasonable in light of information introduced during the appeal which was not heard by the Commission. In such event, the Commission shall, at the conclusion of a public hearing, make a recommendation upon such modifications The City Council may then approve or disapprove the modifications without the necessity of a further public hearing and may impose its own conditions and modifications using the standards provided in this chapter.

5.

Supermajority vote. A supermajority vote of the City Council shall be required in order to reverse a decision made by the Development Review Commission or Community Planning and Preservation Commission to approve, approve with conditions, or deny an application which is properly before the City Council or, in an historic designation application, to approve a designation over an owner's objection. A supermajority vote is not required to reverse any recommendation on a legislative matter, including a text amendment to the Comprehensive Plan or Land Development Regulations, a vacation, street closing or name change.

For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "reverse" does not mean adding, changing, or removing conditions of approval, or changing a zoning or land use designation to a lesser intense designation. Supermajority means, if eight members are present and voting, an affirmative vote of at least six members and, if less than eight members are present and voting, an affirmative vote of at least five members.

6.

New evidence may be heard in all appeal hearings.

(Code 1992, § 16.70.010.6; Ord. No. 892-G, § 3, 9-4-2008; Ord. No. 945-G, § 1(16.70.010.60), 9-3-2009; Ord. No. 985-G, §§ 101—108, 7-15-2010; Ord. No. 100-H, §§ 11, 15, 12-19-2013; Ord. No. 177-H, § 5, 6-11-2015; Ord. No. 358-H, §§ 1—4, 1-17-2019)