The decisions of the Fee Administrator may be appealed as provided below:
A. Any fee payer who is or may be obligated to pay an impact fee, may appeal a decision made by the Fee Administrator in applying this chapter to the City Council. Such decisions that may be appealed include:
1. The applicability of an impact fee to the development.
2. The amount of an impact fee to be paid for the development.
3. The availability, amount or application of any credit.
4. The amount of any refund, reimbursement or credit.
5. Any discretionary action or inaction by or on behalf of the City.
A fee payer may pay an impact fee under protest in order to obtain a development approval or building permit(s) and, by paying such impact fee, shall not be estopped from exercising the right of appeal provided herein, nor shall the fee payer be estopped from receiving a refund of any amount deemed to have been illegally collected. Upon final disposition of an appeal, the impact fee shall be adjusted in accordance with the decision rendered and, if necessary, a refund paid.
B. In order to pursue an appeal, the fee payer shall file a written notice of appeal with the City Clerk with a copy to the Fee Administrator within fifteen (15) days after the date of the decision being appealed, or the date on which the fee payer submitted a payment of impact fees under protest, whichever is later. Such written application shall include a statement describing why the appellant believes that the decision was in error, together with copies of any documents that the appellant believes supports the claim.
C. The City Clerk shall notify the fee payer of the hearing date on the appeal, which notice shall be given no less than fifteen (15) days prior to the date of the hearing, and shall hear the appeal within thirty (30) days after receipt of a written notice of appeal. The appellant shall have a right to be present and to present evidence in support of the appeal. The Fee Administrator shall likewise have the right to be present and to present evidence in support of the decision. The burden of proof in any such hearing shall be on the fee payer to demonstrate that the amount of the impact fee, credit, reimbursement or refund was not properly calculated by the City.
D. The criteria to be used by the City Council in evaluating the appeal shall be whether:
1. The decision or interpretation made by the Fee Administrator; or
2. The alternative decision or interpretation offered by the appellant, more accurately reflects the intent of this chapter that new development in the City pay its proportionate share of the costs of system improvements for public facilities necessary to serve new development.
The City Council may affirm, reject or revise the decision of the Fee Administrator, providing written findings of fact and conclusions, within fifteen (15) days after hearing the appeal. The City Council shall modify the amount of the impact fee, credit, refund or reimbursement only if there is substantial evidence in the record that the Fee Administrator erred, based upon the methodologies contained in the Impact Fee Study, this chapter and/or the capital improvements plan. The decision of the City Council shall be final.
E. Upon voluntary agreement by the fee payer and the City, the fee payer and the City may enter into mediation with a qualified independent party to address a disagreement related to the impact fee for proposed development. Costs for the independent mediation service shall be shared equally by the fee payer and the City. Mediation may take place at any time during an appeals process and participation in mediation does not preclude the fee payer from pursuing other remedies. (Ord. 804, 2019)