(a) Not later than thirty (30) calendar days following the date of the mailing to the grantee of the decision by the Board, the grantee shall be authorized to appeal the decision or any portion thereof to arbitration by filing a written notice of appeal with the Clerk of the Board. The notice of appeal shall specifically identify the determination or determinations from which the appeal is taken, and the grounds therefor, and shall be accompanied by a fee equal to the estimate by the Clerk of the Board of the cost of preparing the transcript and record of the hearing or hearings. In the event the grantee fails to file the notice of appeal within the time and in compliance with the requirements prescribed in this subsection, the determinations by the Board shall become final, binding, and conclusive and not subject to review or reversal by any authority. Judicial enforcement of such determinations may be sought.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the arbitration panel shall be selected, the hearing scheduled within the time prescribed, notice given, the hearing conducted, a decision made, and the costs divided in the manner prescribed by Sections 11-1.1214 through 11-1.1218 of Article 12 of this chapter.
(c) The questions which may be submitted to the arbitration panel and the jurisdiction of the panel shall be limited to a decision as to whether the findings of fact by the Board are supported by substantial evidence in the record and whether the conclusions by the Board are consistent with the provisions of the franchise documents as interpreted by the arbitration panel. The powers of the arbitration panel shall be limited to a conclusion as to whether the decision by the Board from which the appeal is taken should be affirmed, or reversed and remanded to the Board for further determination, and interpretation of the provisions of the franchise documents solely in relation to the review of the decision by the Board.
(d) The hearing by the arbitration panel shall not be a trial de novo, and the sole function of the panel shall be to review the record of the hearing preceding the decision by the Board to decide whether there was substantial evidence in the light of the whole record to support the findings and to interpret the franchise documents in relation to the decision by the Board. No new evidence shall be introduced, received, or considered by the arbitration panel; provided that where the panel finds there is relevant evidence which, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, could not have been produced or which was improperly excluded at the hearing preceding the arbitration, the panel may remand the matter to the Board to be reconsidered in the light of such evidence. The determination by the Board shall be sustained by the arbitration panel if it finds that there is substantial evidence in the record to sustain the determination and that the conclusions are consistent with the provisions of the franchise documents. The panel shall not substitute its discretion for that of the Board with respect to the determinations made by the Board or reweigh or otherwise judge the credibility of the evidence presented during the hearing preceding the Board’s decision. If the panel decides that the determinations by the Board violate the provisions of the franchise documents, the panel shall remand the matter to the Board for further determinations, reserving jurisdiction to review the determinations. Objections by the grantee to the determinations by the Board which were not presented during the hearing preceding the Board’s decision shall be deemed to have been waived.
(e) The decision by the Board as affirmed by an arbitration award may be judicially enforced and shall not be subject to judicial review or vacation, except on the grounds set forth in Section 1286.2 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the State to the extent such grounds are consistent with the express terms of this chapter. (§ 1, Ord. 961, eff. October 27, 1983)