(A) Any person or entity residing in or owning property within the city, and any organization, association, or corporation representing the interests of persons or entities owning property within city, may file a declaratory judgment action challenging the validity of the fee.
(B) Any person or entity required to pay an impact fee who believes the fee does not meet the requirements of law may file a written request for information with the city. Within two weeks of the receipt of the request for information, the city shall provide the person or entity with the impact fee analysis and with any other relevant information relating to the impact fee.
(C) Any person or entity that has paid the fee and wishes to challenge the fee shall file a written request for information and pursue administrative remedies as set forth below.
(1) The written request or challenge to the fees shall be filed within 30 days from payment of the fees if the challenge concerns whether the city complied with the notice requirements of the state’s Impact Fees Act, being UCA §§ 11-36A-101 et seq.
(2) The written request or challenge to the fees shall be filed within 180 days from payment of the fees if the challenge is to whether the city complied with other procedural requirements of the state’s Impact Fees Act for imposing the impact fee.
(3) The written request or challenge to the fees shall be filed within one year from payment of the fees if the challenge is to the impact fee itself.
(D) The city does hereby establish an administrative appeals procedure to consider and decide challenges to impact fees.
(1) All appeals shall be made in writing addressed to the Mayor and filed with the City Recorder.
(2) The City Council or a hearing officer appointed by the Council shall hear and decide the appeal.
(3) The person making the appeal shall be entitled to present evidence, both written and oral, at the hearing and may be represented by counsel if he, she, or they desires.
(4) The city shall make its decision no later than 30 days after the date the challenge to the impact fee is filed.
(E) A challenge to either the procedural or substantive aspects of this impact fee may be initiated by filing:
(1) The administrative appeal as set forth above;
(2) A request for arbitration as provided in UCA § 11-36a-705; or
(3) An action in District Court.
(F) The sole remedy for a challenge of insufficient notice is the equitable remedy of requiring the city to correct the defective notice and repeat the process.
(G) The sole remedy for a challenge of the procedure used to adopt the fee is the equitable remedy of requiring the city to correct the defective process.
(H) The sole remedy for a challenge to the amount of the fee is a refund of the difference between what the person or entity paid as an impact fee and the amount the impact fee should have been if it had been correctly calculated.
(I) The judge may award reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs to the prevailing party in any action brought under this section.
(Ord. 2012-001, passed 4-10-2012)