A. Notice Of Appeal: Any person aggrieved by a decision of the building official made pursuant to or in relation to matters subject to this title may appeal the decision by filing a notice of appeal with the City Clerk within thirty (30) days of receiving notice of the building official's decision. The notice of appeal shall contain the following information: the name of the appellant, the address of the property to which the decision relates, the date on which the appellant was notified of the decision, a summary of the decision being appealed and a statement of reason why the decision is being appealed. The failure of the aggrieved person to file a notice of appeal in the manner stated in this section shall result in a waiver of the aggrieved person's right to appeal. The filing of a notice of appeal shall not stay the action of the building official pending the outcome of the appeal.
B. Investigation By City Council: Following the filing of a notice of appeal, the City Council may, in its discretion, appoint a committee of the City Council or an independent hearing officer to investigate the notice of appeal, report findings of fact and make a recommendation for disposition to the City Council.
C. Hearing Before City Council: The City Council shall conduct a hearing on the appeal within forty five (45) days from the date the notice of appeal is filed with the City Clerk. The hearing shall be open to the public and shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures set forth in this section.
D. Hearing Procedures: The procedures pursuant to which the City Council shall hear an appeal pursuant to this section are as follows:
1. The appellant shall first describe the decision being challenged, state the grounds for the appeal and present a summary of the appellant's argument.
2. The appellant may then testify, submit documents and/or call witnesses in support of the appeal.
3. The City shall then state the grounds for opposing the appeal.
4. The City may submit documents and/or call witnesses in opposition to the appeal.
5. The appellant may then present a rebuttal argument, witnesses and/or documents. The failure of an appellant to provide argument, witnesses and/or documents on rebuttal shall not be considered by the City Council in deciding the appeal.
6. The appellant and the City, respectively, may present closing arguments.
7. Appellant and the City are entitled to be represented by counsel, and present testimony, evidence and argument on all issues raised on appeal.
8. The City Council may, if it appears helpful to a clear understanding of the issues, consider matters not raised at the hearing.
9. All testimony by the appellant and the parties' witnesses shall be under oath.
10. The rules of evidence shall not apply.
11. The Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem may limit testimony or other proffered evidence that is duplicative, unnecessarily argumentative or not reasonably related to the matter being appealed.
12. The Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem may terminate the hearing upon finding that sufficient testimony, documents and arguments have been presented to enable the City Council to fully deliberate and decide the appeal; provided, the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem shall first request from the appellant a summary of all remaining matters he or she intends to present at the hearing.
E. Decision By City Council: At the conclusion of the hearing, the City Council shall make a final decision that is consistent with the requirements of this title (to include the technical codes) to affirm, deny, condition or modify the decision of the building official and shall within thirty (30) days thereafter file a notice of decision with the City Clerk stating the decision.
F. Judicial Review: Any person who has appealed a decision to the City Council in accordance with this section and is aggrieved by the decision of the City Council may appeal that decision to the Fourth Judicial District Court in and for the County of Elko, State of Nevada, by filing with that court a petition for judicial review within twenty five (25) days from the date the notice of decision is filed with the City Clerk. (Ord. 820, 7-11-2017)