The Mayor and City Council of the City of Beverly Hills shall serve as a Board of Adjustment.

The Board of adjustment shall have the authority to:

When in its judgment the public convenience and welfare will be substantially served and the appropriate use of neighboring property will not be substantially or permanently injured, the board of adjustment may, in specific cases, after public notice and public hearing and subject to appropriate conditions and safeguards, authorize and shall have the power to grant the following special exceptions to the regulations herein established:

All applications for special exceptions shall be by appeal to the board of adjustment. Appeals to the board of adjustment may be taken by any person aggrieved, or by any officer, department, board or bureau of the City of Beverly Hills, affected by any decision of the administrative officer. Such appeal shall be taken within a reasonable time, as provided by the rules of the board, by filing a request for appeal with the officer from whose decision the appeal is taken, specifying the grounds therefor. The officer from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the board of adjustment all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.

An appeal shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the board of adjustment after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with him, that by reason of the facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril of life or property. In such case, proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the board of adjustment or by a court of record on application on notice to the officer from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.

The board of adjustment shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal or other application for variance or other action, give public notice thereof as well as due notice to the parties in interest, and decide the same within a reasonable time. At least 15 days’ notice of the time and place of such hearing shall be published in the official publication of the City of Beverly Hills. Upon the hearing, any party may appear in person or by agent or attorney. The notice provided for in this section shall be given by publication at least once in the official publication of the City of Beverly Hills, setting the time and place of such hearing, which will not be earlier than 15 days from the date of such publication, and in addition thereto, the board of adjustment shall mail notices of such hearings to the petitioner and to the owners of property living within 200 feet of any point or portion thereof, on which a variation is desired and to all other persons deemed by the board to be affected thereby, such owners and persons shall be determined according to the current tax rolls of the City of Beverly Hills, and substantial compliance therewith shall be deemed sufficient compliance with the purpose of this notice.

In exercising the above-mentioned powers, such board may reverse or affirm wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination as ought to be made, and to that end shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken.

The concurring vote of four members of the board of adjustment shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination or [of] any such administrative official, to decide in favor of the applicant on any matter upon which it is required to pass under this ordinance, or to effect any variation in this ordinance.

Any person or persons, jointly or severally, aggrieved by any decision of the board of adjustment, or any taxpayer, or any officer, department, board, or bureau of the City of Beverly Hills, may present to a court of record a petition, duly verified, setting forth that such decision is illegal, in whole or in part, specifying the grounds of the illegality. Such petition shall be presented to the court within ten days after the filing of the decision in the office of the board.

Upon the presentation of such petition, the court may allow a writ of certiorari directed to the board of adjustment to review such decision of the board of adjustment and shall prescribe therein the time within which a return thereto must be made and served upon the realtor’s [sic] attorney, which shall not be less that ten days and may be extended by the court. The allowance of the writ shall not stay proceedings upon the decision appealed from, but the court may, on application, on notice to the board and on due cause shown, grant a restraining order.

The board of adjustment shall not be required to return the original papers acted upon by it, but it shall be sufficient to return certified or sworn copies thereof of such portions thereof as may be called for by such writ. The return shall concisely set forth such other facts as may be pertinent and material to show the grounds of the decision appealed from and shall be verified.

If, upon the hearing, it shall appear to the court that testimony is necessary for the proper disposition of the matter, it may take evidence or appoint a referee to take such evidence as it may direct and report the same to the court within his findings the fact and conclusions of law which shall constitute a part of the proceedings upon which the determination of the court shall be made. The court may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the decisions brought up for review.

Costs shall not be allowed against the board of adjustment unless it shall appear to the court that it acted with gross negligence, or in bad faith, or with malice in making the decision appealed from.

All issues in any proceedings under this part shall have preference over all civil actions and proceedings.