These procedures will serve as the guidelines for conducting quasi-judicial public hearings.
(A) Open the hearing with a description of the item. Read the agenda heading to announce the item.
(B) Call for declaration of conflict of interest, ex-parte contact, or bias. Call for declarations. A party wishing to disqualify a Councilor from a decision item shall provide written notice to the City Recorder at least 24 hours before the hearing.
(C) Read statement of rights and relevance.
(1) All testimony or evidence presented toward the request being heard must be directed toward the relevant criteria contained in the municipal codes, to other city plans or policies, or to other criteria which a person believes pertains to the request.
(2) For each individual hearing item on the agenda, the applicable substantive criteria will be read for each request at the time the request is heard.
(3) All persons shall raise issues with sufficient clarity so as to allow the City Council or others an adequate opportunity to respond to or resolve the issue.
(4) Failure to address a criterion before the close of the hearing record precludes an appeal to the Land Use Board of Appeals based on that criterion.
(5) Failure by the applicant, no later than the close of the hearing record, to raise constitutional or other issues relating to the proposed conditions of approval, with sufficient specificity to allow the city to respond to the issues, will preclude an action for damages based on those issues in the circuit court. Prior to the close of the evidentiary record of the hearing, a participant may request an opportunity to present additional evidence, arguments, or testimony regarding the application. If a participant requests such an opportunity prior to the close of the evidentiary record, the City Council may either continue the hearing for at least seven days or leave the record open for at least seven days to allow the submission of additional written evidence, arguments, or testimony. Seven days is then allowed for appeal response to new evidence, arguments, or testimony and seven days shall be allowed for rebuttal of an appeal (“Three 7s Rule” O.R.S. 197.763(3)(i), (4)(b), (6)(b), and (6)(e)).
(D) Read the right to appeal. An appeal from an action or ruling by the City Council may be filed with the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) within 21 days after the date of the City Council’s decision is reduced to writing and bears the necessary signatures and is mailed or otherwise submitted to parties entitled to notice according to state law. The appeal will need to comply with the LUBA appeal procedure and LUBA should be contacted for further information regarding an appeal. In order to have standing for an appeal, a person must have been mailed written notice or have participated in writing or in person at the Planning Commission public hearing or at the City Council public hearing or have been substantially affected by the action or ruling.
(E) Staff report (including the reading of the applicable substantive criteria).
(1) If a large number of people are present to offer testimony, a time limit may be set on individual testimony.
(2) If testimony begins to be repetitive, a show of hands for those supporting the views being stated may be called to expedite the hearing.
(3) In divisions (F) through (K) below, the person presenting the application, the applicant, may give information regarding the application. People agreeing with the application, the proponents, may then be heard. Followed by people objecting to the application, the opponents. People who are neither for nor against the application, but are other interested parties may then be heard. And finally, the applicant may speak in rebuttal of any presented testimony. Direct questions only; no commentary please.
(F) Applicant testimony. Please state name and address for the record.
(G) Proponent testimony. Please state name and address for the record.
(H) Opponent testimony. Please state name and address for the record.
(I) Other interested parties. Please state name and address for the record.
(J) Rebuttal by applicant. If new evidence is brought forward in rebuttal by the applicant, the cycle begins again, giving everyone the opportunity to respond to the new evidence.
(K) Questions by City Council. Questions may be asked by the City Council of specific individuals. An opportunity will be provided to City Councilors to ask questions for clarification after each testimony.
(L) Close the hearing.
(M) Deliberations. The City Council will consider the facts presented at the hearing, and if additional time is required, set a public meeting date to announce its findings and decision. No input from the audience will be accepted.
(Res. 322, passed 7-2-2003)