(A) Any fee payer who is aggrieved by the calculation of the impact fee, by the rejection of an application for a refund of an impact fee, by the approval of only a partial refund of an impact fee, or by a determination of the amount of a credit, may appeal from such calculation, rejection, partial approval, or determination to the Zionsville Impact Fee Review Board, and the Zionsville Impact Fee Review Board shall conduct a hearing with regard thereto. At such hearing, the fee payer shall bear the burden of going forward with the evidence and shall present evidence addressing either of the following propositions:
(1) A fact assumed in determining the amount of the impact fee is incorrect; or
(2) The amount of the impact fee is greater than the amount allowed under I.C. 36-7-4-1320, 36-7-4-1321 and 36-7-4-1322.
(B) Upon conclusion of the hearing, the Zionsville Impact Fee Review board shall make a determination based upon the facts presented, and may reverse, affirm, modify or make such adjustments in the impact fee as it believes are appropriate under the circumstances, if any, including establishing the amount of an impact fee, a credit, a refund or any combination of fees, credits or refunds.
(C) The Zionsville Impact Fee Review Board shall provide a copy of its decision to the town and the fee payer involved in the appeal within five days after making its decision, and shall make written findings of fact to support its decision.
(D) An appeal under this section must be filed no later than 30 days after the issuance of the improvement location permit, or not later than 60 days after the rejection or partial approval of an application for a refund of an impact fee, as applicable. The appeal shall be initiated with the filing of a petition for review with the Zionsville Department of Finance and Records, together with a filing fee in the amount of $100. The filing fee shall be refunded in full if:
(1) The petition for review is granted and the impact fee is eliminated, reduced or adjusted by the Zionsville Impact Fee Review Board, by independent action of the town or by a court having jurisdiction; and
(2) The reviewing body determines that the amount of the fees, reductions, or credits were arbitrary or capricious.
(E) The petition for review shall be in a form calculated to inform the Zionsville Impact Fee Review Board of the nature of the complaint, the parties to the action and the relief requested. In addition, the petition shall describe the new development on which the impact fee has been assessed, all facts related to the assessment of the impact fee and the reasons the petitioner believes that the amount of the impact fee assessed is erroneous or is greater than the amount allowed by the fee limitation set forth in the enabling statute.
(F) The town shall not deny the issuance of an improvement location permit on the basis that the impact fee has not been paid, or condition issuance of the permit on the payment of the impact fee; however, if the impact fee is $1,000 or less, the town may require the fee payer to pay the impact fee or initiate an appeal under this section before the improvement location permit is issued.
(Ord. 2011-14, passed 12-5-2011; Ord. 2022-02, passed 3-7-2022)