(A) Any person, firm, or corporation aggrieved by the levying of any fee, as provided herein, may appeal to the County Commissioners within 30 days of the date the fee is levied. The County Commissioners will hear the appeal within 60 days and decide the appeal within 30 days of the hearing. At the hearing, the party aggrieved shall have the burden of establishing, by expert evidence, that the fee as levied does not fairly reflect the impact of the development on the county’s capital improvements. The expert and the expert’s impact analysis must be qualified pursuant to § 33.59 and the expert’s independent impact analysis must be submitted at the time an appeal is filed and be completed in accordance with § 33.59. Initiation of an appeal does not eliminate the developer’s obligation to pay the fee; the developer shall pay the development impact fee prior to proceeding with development or may elect to appeal prior to commencing development.
(B) If the County Commissioners determine that either a reduced fee or no fee is required, the county shall refund excess fee paid.
(C) An appeal shall be filed with the appropriate office as determined by the County Commissioners. The County Commissioners shall also establish an appeal fee, which must be paid upon filing an appeal. The office shall adopt and publish regulations for the processing of such appeals. The appeal fee shall be refunded if it is determined on appeal that the impact fee was excessive.
(D) The County Commissioners may appoint such full- and part-time hearing examiners as may be necessary and appropriate and may delegate to the said hearing examiner or examiners the power to hold and conduct hearings as required and set forth herein. Hearings shall be conducted in such a manner and subject to such rules and regulations as may be provided by the County Commissioners.
(1) The County Commissioners shall establish the hearing examiners’ terms of office, qualifications, and compensation.
(2) The hearing examiner shall render a written recommendation at such time and in such manner and form as may be required by the County Commissioners.
(3) Only written exceptions to the recommendations of the hearing examiner are allowed. Such exceptions must be filed with the County Commissioners within ten days of the hearing. The County Commissioners shall decide the matter based on the recommendations of the hearing examiner, the exceptions filed thereto and the record within 30 days of the deadline for filing exceptions.
(E) The party aggrieved by the decision, including the Budget Officer, may appeal to the Circuit Court for Carroll County in accordance with the Maryland Rules of Civil Procedure.
(2004 Code, § 102-10) (Ord. 165, passed 11-18-1998)