§ 12-42. Appeals.

(a)

An appeal from any decision or order of the code enforcement officer pursuant to this article may be taken by any person aggrieved thereby. Any appeal from the code enforcement officer shall be taken within ten days from the rendering of the decision, or if either the owner or his attorney was not present when the decision was rendered, then within ten days of service of such order. Such appeal shall be taken by filing with the code enforcement officer and with the board of adjustment (hereinafter called "the board") a notice of appeal which shall specify the grounds upon which the appeal is based. Upon the filing of any notice of appeal, the code enforcement officer shall forthwith transmit to the board all the papers constituting the record upon which the decision appealed from was made. When an appeal is from a decision of the chief code enforcement officer refusing to allow the person aggrieved thereby to do any act, his decision shall remain in force until modified or reversed. When any appeal is from a decision of the code enforcement officer requiring the person aggrieved to do any act, the appeal shall have the effect of suspending the requirement until the hearing by the board, unless the code enforcement officer certifies to the board after the notice of appeal is filed with him, that by reason of the facts stated in the certificate (a copy of which shall be furnished to the appellant), a suspension of his requirement would cause imminent peril to life or property. In that case, the requirement shall not be suspended except by a restraining order, which may be granted for due cause upon not less than one day's written notice to the code enforcement officer by the board, or by a court of record upon petition made pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. All regulations, fees and other rules of the board shall apply to these appeals.

(b)

The board shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of all appeals, shall give due notice to all the parties, and shall render its decision within a reasonable time. Any party may appear in person or by agent or attorney. The board may reverse or affirm wholly or partly, or may modify the decision or order appealed from, and may make such decision and order as in its opinion ought to be made in the matter, and to that end it shall have all the powers of the code enforcement officer, but the concurring vote of 4/5 of the members of the board shall be necessary to reverse or modify any decision or order of the code enforcement officer. The board shall have power also in passing upon appeals, in any case where there are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships in the way of carrying out the strict letter of the ordinance, to adapt the application of the ordinance to the necessities of the case to the end that the spirit of the ordinance shall be observed, public safety and welfare secured, and substantial justice done.

(c)

If the board determines that the building is a building of historical value, the board may enter an order holding the matter in abeyance provided that the owner repairs the building on a timely basis. Such repairs shall commence within six months of the board's order and shall be completed within two years of said date. All such repairs shall be completed in such a way as to maintain the historic character of the building and shall comply with the United States Secretary of Interior standards for the treatment of historic rehabilitation. If the repairs are not commenced and completed within the time periods set out in the order, the code enforcement officer shall proceed to enforce his original order.

(d)

Every decision of the board shall be subject to review by the county superior court by proceedings in the nature of certiorari instituted within 15 days of the decision of the board, but not otherwise.

(e)

Any person aggrieved by an order issued by the code enforcement officer or a decision rendered by the board shall have the right, within 30 days after the issuance of the order or rendering of a decision, to petition the superior court for a temporary injunction, restraining the code enforcement officer pending a final disposition of the cause.

(Ord. No. 08-0316, § 1, 3-6-08)