Any quasi-judicial public hearing required by, or provided for, in this subchapter shall be conducted in accordance with the following requirements.
(A) Application materials. All application materials, documents, or other evidence relied upon by the applicant for any land use approval shall be provided to the city and made available to the public at least 20 days prior to the hearing. If any documents or evidence in support of the application are provided for consideration by the hearings body after 20 days prior to the hearing, any party shall be entitled to a continuance of the hearing.
(B) Staff report. At least seven days prior to the hearing, the city shall provide to the hearings body, and make available to the public for inspection or purchase, a report detailing the nature of the request and the applicable criteria of the chapter.
(C) Pre-hearing statement. At the commencement of the hearing, a statement shall be made by the hearings body or staff to those in attendance that:
(1) Lists the applicable substantive criteria;
(2) States that testimony and evidence must be directed toward the criteria described in division (C)(1) above or other criteria in this chapter the party believes to apply to the subject request; and
(3) States that failure to raise an issue, accompanied by statements or evidence sufficient to afford the hearings body and the parties an opportunity to respond to the issue, precludes appeal to the Land Use Board of Appeals on that issue.
(D) Order of presentation of testimony. Unless otherwise provided for by the hearings body, the order of presentation of testimony shall be as follows:
(1) Staff report;
(2) Presentation by the applicant or, in the case of an appeal of a prior decision, the appellant;
(3) Testimony by opponents or, in the case of an appeal, the respondent; and
(4) Applicant’s or, in the case of an appeal, appellant’s rebuttal arguments.
(E) Continuances. The hearings body may continue any hearing as deemed necessary to receive additional arguments or testimony, or for further consideration of any evidence or testimony. A continuance may be provided for by the hearing body on its own motion or may be requested by a party. Any continuance or extension of the record requested by an applicant shall suspend the time limit specified in division (I) below. If the hearings body grants a continuance, the hearing shall be continued to a date, time, and place certain at least seven days from the date of the initial evidentiary hearing. An opportunity shall be provided at the continued hearing for persons to present and rebut new evidence and testimony. If new written evidence is presented at the continued hearing, any person may request, prior to the conclusion of the continued hearing, that the record be left open for at least seven days to submit additional written evidence or testimony for the purpose of responding to the new written evidence. No additional notice need be given of the continued hearing.
(F) Holding open the hearing record. Prior to the conclusion of the initial evidentiary hearing, any participant may request an opportunity to present additional evidence or testimony regarding the application.
(1) The hearings body shall grant such a request by continuing the hearing pursuant to division (E) above or leaving the record open for additional written evidence or testimony. If the record is left open for additional written evidence of testimony, the record shall be left open for at least seven days.
(2) Any participant may file a written request with the city for an opportunity to respond to new evidence or testimony submitted during the period the record was left open. If such a request is filed, the hearings body shall reopen the record pursuant to division (G) below.
(G) Reopening the hearing record. The hearings body may, on its own motion, or upon request of a party, publish new notices and reopen the record of any hearing previously concluded. When a hearing record is reopened to admit new evidence or testimony, any person may raise new issues which relate to the new evidence, testimony, or criteria for decision making which apply to the subject application or appeal.
(H) Continuing a hearing. The hearings body may continue a hearing in order to obtain additional information or to serve further notice upon other property owners or persons it decides may be interested in the proposal being considered. Upon continuing, the time and date when the hearing is to be resumed shall be announced at the meeting, and no additional notice shall be necessary.
(I) Time limitations per applicable state statute. Any continuance or extension of the record shall be subject to the time limitations of the applicable state statute unless the continuance or extension is requested by, or agreed to by, the applicant.
(J) Final arguments. Unless waived by the applicant, the hearings body shall allow the applicant at least seven days after the record is closed to all other parties to submit final written arguments in support of the application. The applicants final submittal shall be considered part of the record, but shall not include any new evidence. For purposes of this section:
(1) ARGUMENT means assertions and analysis regarding the satisfaction or violation of legal standards or policy believed relevant by the proponent to a decision. ARGUMENT does not include facts.
(2) EVIDENCE means facts, documents, data, or other information offered to demonstrate compliance or noncompliance with the standards believed by the proponent to be relevant to a decision by the hearings body.
(Ord. 24, passed 4-5-1976; Ord. 154, passed 9-17-1990; Ord. 172, passed 10-7-1991; Ord. 173, passed 12-2-1991; Ord. 174, passed 3-16-1992; Ord. 256, passed 4-6-2004; Ord. 287, passed 5-4-2010)