(A) As provided by G. S. § 160D-305, the Board of Adjustment is hereby appointed as the Housing Appeals Board to which appeals from any decision or order of the Code Enforcement Officer may be taken. Except where this chapter provides for different rules or procedures, the Board of Adjustment acting as the Housing Appeals Board shall follow its rules of procedure, which may be amended to provide specifically for this function.
(B) An appeal from any decision or order of the Code Enforcement Officer is a quasi-judicial matter and may be taken by any person aggrieved thereby or by any officer, board or commission of the city. Any appeal from the Code Enforcement Officer shall be taken within ten days from the service of the order by filing with the Code Enforcement Officer and with the Board of Adjustment a notice of appeal that shall specify the grounds upon which the appeal is based. Upon the filing of any notice of appeal, the Code Enforcement Officer shall forthwith transmit to the Board of Adjustment all the papers constituting the record upon which the decision appealed from was made. When an appeal is from a decision of the Code Enforcement Officer refusing to allow the person aggrieved thereby to do any such act, his decision shall remain in force until modified or reversed. When any appeal is from a decision of the Code Enforcement Officer requiring the person aggrieved to do any act, the appeal shall have the effect of suspending the requirement until the hearing by the Board of Adjustment, unless the Code Enforcement Officer certifies to the Board of Adjustment after the notice of appeal is filed with him, that because of facts stated in the certificate (a copy of which shall be furnished the appellant), a suspension of his requirement would cause imminent peril to life or property. In that case the requirement shall not be suspended except by a restraining order, which may be granted for due cause shown upon not less than one (1) day's written notice to the Code Enforcement Officer, the Board of Adjustment, or by a court of record upon petition made pursuant to division (E) of this section.
(C) The Board of Adjustment shall fix a reasonable time for hearing appeals, shall give due notice to the parties, and shall render its decision within a reasonable time. Any party may appear in person or by agent or attorney. The Board of Adjustment may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the decision or order appealed from and may make any decision and order that in its opinion ought to be made in the matter, and to that end it shall have all the powers of the Code Enforcement Officer, but the concurring vote of four-fifths of the members of the Board of Adjustment shall be necessary to reverse or modify any decision or order of the Code Enforcement Officer. The Board of Adjustment shall have power also in passing upon appeals, when practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships would result from carrying out the strict letter of the ordinance, to adapt the application of the ordinance to the necessities of the case to the end that the spirit of the ordinance shall be observed, public safety and welfare secured, and substantial justice done.
(D) Every decision of the Board of Adjustment shall be subject to review by proceedings in the nature of certiorari instituted within fifteen (15) days of the decision of the Board.
(E) Any person aggrieved by an order issued by the Code Enforcement Officer, or a decision rendered by the Board of Adjustment may petition the Superior Court for an injunction, restraining the Code Enforcement Officer from carrying out the order or decision and the Court may uphold such petition, issue a temporary injunction restraining the Code Enforcement Officer pending a final disposition of the cause. The petition shall be filed within thirty (30) days after issuance of the order or rendering of the decision. Hearings shall be had by the Court on a petition within twenty (20) days and shall be given preference over other matters on the Court’s calendar. The Court shall hear and determine the issues raised and shall enter such final order or decree as law and justice may require. It shall not be necessary to file bond in any amount before obtaining a temporary injunction under this section.
(Ord. passed 2-18-92; Am. Ord. O-1997-01, passed 2-4-97; Am. Ord. O-1997-07, passed 4-1-97; Am. Ord. O-1999-37, passed 6-15-99; Am. Ord. O-1999-61, passed 10-5-99; Am. Ord. O-2022-54, passed 7-12-22)