(A) Upon receipt of an appeal, a public hearing shall be scheduled and conducted.
(B) In accepting public testimony at the public hearing, the City Council shall allow all parties to speak and present their arguments, may permit others to speak, at the discretion of the chairperson, and shall also review the record of the previous decision.
(C) If there is significant new information that was not available at the time of the appealed decision, or if there are special circumstances or unusual characteristics of the property involved, then the City Council may determine that the original decision was correct; but that the matter should be remanded to staff or another body to reconsider the request and new information.
(D) The burden of proof on any appeal rests with the appellant.
(E) The proper filing of an appeal shall stay the effective date of the original decision until a final decision is rendered through the local appeal process. If the appeal is not filed within the specified time period and in the proper manner, the decision shall be final.
(F) When the original decision followed a public hearing, the appeal of that decision shall be heard and considered only on the record of that decision and testimony and arguments shall be confined to that record. If the decision being appealed did not involve a public hearing, the record shall consist of the application materials, the record of the decision, supporting documentation from both staff and the applicant prior to the decision, and the appellant's appeal statements.
(G) A decision by the City Council to overturn or modify a previous decision shall be accompanied by findings pertaining to one or more of the following:
(1) The staff person or other authority responsible for the appealed decision did not correctly interpret the requirements of the comprehensive plan, zoning ordinance or other relevant city codes or regulations.
(2) The staff person or other authority did not consider all of the relevant information In the record or otherwise available at the time and which was pertinent to the case.
(H) If the City Council affirms the original decision, it may adopt by reference the findings and conclusions previously made, may alter or delete any part of those findings, or may make additional findings. The City Council may also amend or add to any conditions of approval that were originally imposed.
(Ord. 225, passed 10-20-1994, § 28.3)