(a) Appeal from Decision of City Official. An appeal from any final decision of a City official pursuant to this chapter shall be made to the City Council by filing a written appeal on the appropriate City form with the Director of Buildings, with a copy to the Clerk of Council, within 30 days following the decision which is being appealed. The burden of proof shall be on the appellant to demonstrate that the decision of the City Official is erroneous. All appeals shall detail the specific grounds therefor and all other relevant information and shall be filed on a form provided by the City for such purposes.
(b) Appeal from Decision of City Council. An appeal from any final decision of the City Council pursuant to this chapter shall be made to the Court of Common Pleas for Cuyahoga County.
(c) Permit Issuance and Payment under Protest. If the appeal is accompanied by a letter of credit in a form satisfactory to the Director of Law and the Director of Finance in an amount equal to the impact fee calculated to be due, a building permit may be issued to the new land development. The filing of an appeal shall not stay the imposition or the collection of the impact fee as calculated by the City unless a bond or other sufficient surety has been provided.
(d) Mediation. In order to address any disagreement between the fee payor and the City relative to the imposition of an impact fee, the City and the fee payor may, upon voluntary agreement, enter into mediation conducted by a qualified independent party. Participation in mediation does not preclude the fee payor from pursuing any other available remedies provided herein, in the Act, or otherwise available by law.
(e) Incidental Benefit. The receipt of "incidental benefit" by a third party property owner or developer within the service area resulting from the payment of a development impact fee by a fee payor or developer shall not be considered grounds for exercising the remedies set forth herein.
(Ord. 2006-36. Passed 10-23-06.)