A. Declaration Of Purpose. The City Council finds that there is a need to establish uniform procedures for administrative code enforcement hearings conducted pursuant to this Chapter. It is the purpose and intent of the City Council to afford due process of law to any person who is directly affected by an administrative action. Due process of law includes notice, an opportunity to participate in the administrative hearing including the opportunity to call witnesses, present evidence, and cross-examine witnesses, and an explanation of the reasons justifying the administrative action. These procedures are also intended to establish a forum to efficiently, expeditiously, and fairly resolve issues raised in any administrative code enforcement action.
B. Policies And Procedures Of Hearings. The Hearing Officer may develop policies and procedures to regulate the hearing process for any violation of the City Code that is handled pursuant to the administrative abatement procedures, the emergency abatement procedures, the demolition procedures, or the administrative citation procedures. Such policies and procedures shall be consistent with this Chapter and other City ordinances and codes.
C. Powers Of The Hearing Officer.
1. The Hearing Officer has the authority to hold hearings, determine if violations of City ordinances exist, order compliance with City ordinances, and enforce compliance as provided in this Chapter on any matter subject to the provisions of the Chapter.
2. The Hearing Officer may continue a hearing based on good cause-as defined in this Chapter-shown by one of the parties to the hearing. The Hearing Officer must enter on the record the reason for granting a continuance.
3. The Hearing Officer may issue subpoenas for witnesses, documents, and other evidence where such is deemed necessary to decide the issues at the hearing. All costs related to the subpoena, including witness and mileage fees, shall be borne by the party requesting the subpoena. The Hearing Officer shall develop policies and procedures relating to the issuance of subpoenas in administrative code enforcement hearings, including the form of the subpoena and related costs. In the absence of any adopted policies, the Hearing Officer shall follow the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure.
4. The Hearing Officer has continuing jurisdiction over the subject matter of an administrative code enforcement hearing for the following purposes:
a. Granting a continuance;
b. Ordering compliance by issuing a Hearing Officer Order using any remedies available under the law; and
c. Ensuring compliance of that Order, which includes the following powers:
(1) To authorize the City to enter and abate a violation,
(2) To modify an Order issued by the Hearing Officer Order, or
(3) To grant a new hearing where extraordinary circumstances exist.
5. The Hearing Officer has the authority to require the responsible person to post a code enforcement performance bond to ensure compliance with an Order issued by the Hearing Officer.
6. The Hearing Officer is subject to disqualification for bias, prejudice, interest, or any other reason for which a judge may be disqualified in a court of law. Rules and procedures for disqualification and replacement shall be in accordance with the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure.
D. Request For Administrative Code Enforcement Hearing.
1. A person served with one of the following documents or notices has the right to request an administrative code enforcement hearing if the request is filed within ten calendar days from the date of service:
a. Notice of violation;
b. Notice of itemized bill for costs;
c. Administrative citation; or
d. Notice of emergency abatement.
2. The request for hearing shall be made in writing and filed with the Code Enforcement Coordinator, who then shall provide a copy of the request to the Hearing Officer and serve the request to all parties. The request shall contain the case number, the address of the violation, the signature of the responsible party, and the reason for the hearing including justifications for the offense, defenses, and requests for waiver or reduction in fines.
3. As soon as practicable after receiving the written notice of the request for hearing, the Code Enforcement Coordinator shall schedule a date, time, and place for the hearing.
4. Failure to request a hearing as provided shall constitute a waiver of the right to a hearing and a waiver of the right to challenge the action.
E. Notification Of Administrative Code Enforcement Hearing.
1. Written notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing shall be served by the Code Enforcement Coordinator or Code Enforcement Officer to the responsible person as soon as practicable prior to the date of the hearing.
2. The format and contents of the hearing notice shall be in accordance with rules and policies promulgated by the Hearing Officer. In the absence of such rules, the format and contents of the hearing shall be drafted by the Code Enforcement Coordinator to be consistent with this Chapter.
3. The notice of hearing shall be served by any of the methods of service listed in this Chapter.
F. Default Hearings And Orders.
1. If the responsible person fails to request an administrative code enforcement hearing before the expiration of the ten-day deadline, the case shall be set for a default hearing by the Code Enforcement Coordinator. The Code Enforcement Coordinator shall notify the responsible person of the date, time, and place of the hearing by one of the methods listed in this Chapter.
2. A default hearing shall also be scheduled for all cases that have outstanding or unpaid civil penalties, fines, fees, or costs due to the City before collection, if a hearing on that case has not already been held.
3. At the default hearing, the responsible person shall have the opportunity to present evidence to show that good cause exists, as defined in the Chapter, to do one or more of the following:
a. Waive or reduce the fines which have accumulated;
b. Postpone an abatement action by the City; or
c. Excuse the responsible person’s failure to request a hearing within the ten-day period.
4. If the evidence shows that the violations existed, the Hearing Officer shall enter an order requiring abatement of the violations and the payment of all fines, costs, and fees. Fines and costs shall run until the City issues a notice of compliance stating when the violations were abated. The order by the Hearing Officer shall not suspend further accrual of fines and costs.
G. Procedures At Administrative Code Enforcement Hearings.
1. Administrative code enforcement hearings are intended to be informal in nature. Formal rules of evidence and discovery do not apply; however, an informal exchange of discovery may be required. The request for discovery must be in writing and filed at least ten (10) business days before the hearing. Failure to request discovery shall not be a basis for a continuance.
2. Complainant information is protected and shall not be released unless the complainant is a witness at the hearing.
3. The procedure and format of the administrative hearing shall follow the procedures promulgated by the Hearing Officer.
4. The City bears the burden of proof at an administrative code enforcement hearing to establish the existence of a violation of the City Code or City ordinances.
5. The standard of proof to be used by the Hearing Officer in deciding the issues at an administrative hearing is whether there is substantial evidence in the record that the violations exist and that the person before the Judge is the responsible person.
6. Hearsay evidence, as defined by the Utah Rules of Evidence, is admissible so long as such hearsay evidence is not the only evidence relied upon by the Hearing Officer.
7. Each party shall have the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses that are in attendance and present evidence in support of his or her case. A written declaration signed under penalty of perjury may be accepted in lieu of a personal appearance so long as the declaration is not the only evidence relied upon by the Hearing Officer. Testimony may be given by telephone or other electronic means so long as the testimony by telephone or electronic means is not the only evidence relied upon by the Hearing Officer.
8. All hearings are open to the public. They shall be recorded by audio recording.
9. Hearings may be held at the location of the violation if the Hearing Officer so chooses, and means are provided for an audio recording of the proceeding.
10. The responsible person has a right to be represented by an attorney.
11. No new hearing shall be granted, unless the Hearing Officer determines that extraordinary circumstances exist which justify a new hearing.
H. Failure To Attend Administrative Code Enforcement Hearings. Any party whose property or actions are the subject of any administrative code enforcement hearing and who fails to appear at the hearing is deemed to have waived the right to a hearing, which will result in a default judgment for the City provided that proper notice of the hearing has been provided. The City shall not be required to put on evidence or prove that a violation was committed by the Responsible Person in such an event, and an entry of a default judgment shall have the same effect as if there was a judgment on the merits of the case.
I. Hearing Officer Order.
1. The parties may enter into a stipulated agreement, which must be signed by both parties or verbally stipulated on the record during the administrative code enforcement hearing. This agreement or stipulation shall be entered as the Hearing Officer Order. Entry of this agreement or stipulation shall constitute a waiver of the right to a hearing and the right to appeal.
2. Once all evidence and testimony are completed, the Hearing Officer shall issue a Hearing Officer Order that affirms, modifies, or rejects the notice, citation, or action by the Code Enforcement Officer. The Hearing Officer may increase or decrease the total amount of civil penalties and costs that are due pursuant to the City’s fee schedule and the procedures in this Chapter.
3. The Hearing Officer may order the City to enter the property and abate all violations, which may include removing animals kept in violation of the City Code.
4. The Hearing Officer may revoke a kennel permit, an animal license, or the right to possess animals as provided in the City Code.
5. As part of the Hearing Officer Order, the Hearing Officer may reduce or stay civil penalties on the condition that the responsible person complete compliance by specified deadlines.
6. The Hearing Officer may schedule subsequent review hearings as may be necessary or as requested by a party to the hearing to ensure compliance with the Hearing Officer Order.
7. The Hearing Officer may order the responsible person to post a performance bond to ensure compliance with the order.
8. The Hearing Officer Order shall become final on the date of the signing of the Order.
9. The Hearing Officer Order shall be served on all parties by any one of the methods listed in this Chapter.
J. Failure To Comply With Order.
1. After the Hearing Officer issues a Hearing Officer Order, the Code Enforcement Officer and Hearing Officer may monitor the violations and determine compliance.
2. Upon the failure of the responsible person to comply with the terms and deadlines set forth in the Hearing Officer Order, the City may use all appropriate legal means to recover the civil penalties and administrative costs to obtain compliance.
K. Administrative Enforcement Appeals.
1. Any person adversely affected by any decision made in the exercise of the provisions of this Chapter may file a petition for review of the decision or order to district court within thirty (30) days after the decision is rendered.
2. No person may challenge in district court the Hearing Officer’s decision until that person has exhausted his or her administrative remedies herein.
3. Unless otherwise provided by the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure or local court rules, within 120 days after submitting the petition, the party petitioning for appeal shall request a copy of the record of the proceedings, including transcripts of hearings when necessary. The Code Enforcement Coordinator shall not submit copies of files or transcripts to the reviewing court until the party petitioning for appeal has paid all required costs. The petitioning party’s failure to properly arrange for copies of the record, or to pay the full costs for the record, within 180 days after the petition for review was filed shall be grounds for dismissal of the petition, unless otherwise provided by the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure or local court rules.
4. If a transcript of a hearing cannot be prepared because the tape recording is incomplete or unintelligible, the district court may, in its discretion, remand the matter to the Hearing Officer for a supplemental proceeding to complete the record. The district court may limit the scope of the supplemental proceeding to issues that, in the court’s opinion, need clarification.
5. The district court’s review is limited to the record of the administrative decision that is being appealed. The court shall not accept nor consider any evidence that is not part of the record of that decision.
6. The courts shall:
a. Presume that the Hearing Officer’s decision and orders are valid; and
b. Review the record to determine whether or not the decision was arbitrary, capricious, or illegal. (Ord. 2022-01, 3-22-2022)