(A) (1) An appellant shall be deemed to have exhausted local appeals for purposes of filing an appeal under the Commission's regulations and be an aggrieved person where the appellant has pursued his appeal to the local appellate body as required by the city appeal procedures; except that exhaustion of all local appeals shall not be required if any of the following occur:
(a) The city required an appellant to appeal to more local appellate bodies for permits in the coastal zone, in the implementation section of the Local Coastal Program;
(b) An appellant was denied the right of the initial local appeal by a local ordinance which restricts the class of persons who may appeal a local decision;
(c) An appellant was denied the right of local appeal because local notice and hearing procedures for the development did not comply with the provisions of this chapter;
(d) The city charges an appeal fee for the filing or processing of appeals.
(2) Where the local government would ordinarily require an appeal fee for the processing of appeals within the appealable areas of the coastal zone, the city may elect to waive the appeal fee and apply to the Commission for a reimbursement of that fee through an SB 90 claim or similar reimbursement process.
(B) Where a project is appealed by any two members of the Commission, there shall be no requirement of exhaustion of local appeals. Provided, however, that notice of Commission appeals shall be transmitted to the local appellate body (which considers appeals from the local body that rendered the final decision) and the appeal to the Commission shall be suspended pending a decision on the merits by that local appellate body. If the decision of the local appellate body modifies or reverses the previous decision, the Commissioners shall be required to file a new appeal from that decision.
('63 Code, § 10-5.29315) (Ord. 417-C.S., passed 12-6-84)