The purpose of this chapter is to provide redress to a person aggrieved or by any officer or department of the town affected by any final order or decision of the zoning administrator.

(Ord. No. 2013-04, Exh. A, 5-7-2013)

A.

An appeal from any final order or decision of the community development director may be taken to the board of adjustment by any person aggrieved. An appeal is taken by filing with the community development director, the town clerk and the board of adjustment a written notice of appeal specifying the grounds therefore. A notice of appeal shall be considered filed with the community development director and board of adjustment when delivered to the town clerk, and the date and time of filing shall be entered on the notice by the town clerk.

B.

An appeal stays all actions by the community development director seeking enforcement of or compliance with the order or decision appeal from, unless the community development director certifies to the board of adjustment that a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In that case, proceedings shall not be stayed except by order of the board of adjustment or a court, issued on application of the party seeking the stay, for due cause shown, after notice to the community development director.

C.

The board of adjustment may reverse or affirm or may modify the order, requirement or decision or determination appealed from and shall make any order, requirement, decision or determination that in its opinion ought to be made in the case before it. To this end, the board of adjustment shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken.

D.

The board of adjustment is authorized to interpret the zoning map and to pass upon disputed questions of lot lines or district boundary lines and similar questions arise in the context of an appeal from a decision of the community development director.

(Ord. No. 2013-04, Exh. A, 5-7-2013)

A.

An application for appeal shall be filed with the town clerk on forms available for the purpose in the community development department.

B.

An appeal must be filed within fifteen days of the action appealed from.

C.

An application shall be accompanied by the appropriate fee and any necessary information specifying the grounds for appeal.

(Ord. No. 2013-04, Exh. A, 5-7-2013)

Upon filing an application for appeal, the appellant shall pay a filing fee in an amount established by a schedule adopted by resolution of the town council and filed in the office of the town clerk. No part of the filing fee shall be returnable. Payment of the filing fee shall be waived when the petitioner is the town, county, state or federal government.

(Ord. No. 2013-04, Exh. A, 5-7-2013)

A.

An appeal, once filed with the town clerk, will be forwarded to the community development director and board of adjustment.

B.

Whenever an appeal is filed, the community development director shall forthwith transmit to the board of adjustment all the papers constituting the record relating to the action appealed from.

C.

When an appeal is taken to the board of adjustment, the community development director shall have the initial burden of presenting to the board of adjustment sufficient evidence and argument to justify the order or decision appeal from. The burden of presenting evidence and argument to the contrary then shifts to the appellant, who shall also have the burden of persuasion, and the burden of presenting evidence sufficient to allow the board of adjustment to reach a conclusion remains with the applicant seeking the appeal.

D.

The board of adjustment's decision to reverse, affirm or modify the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from shall include, insofar as practicable, a statement of the specific reasons or findings of facts that support the motion. If a motion to reverse or modify is not made or fails to receive the four-fifths vote necessary for adoption, then a motion to uphold the decision appealed from shall be in order. This motion is adopted as the board's decision if supported by more than one-fifth of the board's membership, excluding vacant seats.

E.

All applications for an appeal shall be considered by the board of adjustment at a public hearing. Notice of the meeting shall be posted on the property and published in the official newspaper of the town no less than fifteen days prior to the hearing. The notice shall also be mailed ten days prior to the hearing to the following:

1.

All owners of land lying within three hundred feet of the boundaries of the land subject to the application. For purposes of the calculation of this notice area:

a.

Public rights-of-way shall be excluded in determining the extent of the notice area, and

b.

Adjoining land under the same ownership as the land subject to the application shall be included in determining the boundaries from which notice area is measured;

2.

Any person or organization who files with the planning and zoning department a request to receive such notice upon payment of a five-dollar-per-year fee;

3.

Applicable adjoining political subdivisions where the property that is the subject of the application abuts the town boundary;

4.

Such other persons as the community development director determines are likely to be affected by the proposed use;

5.

The notice shall contain:

a.

A description of the proposed use and its location,

b.

The place and time of the public hearing at which comments on the proposed use must be filed.

6.

As per Arizona Revised Statutes.

F.

Any party may appear at the hearing in person or by agent or by attorney. Parties shall have the right to present their case by oral or documentary evidence, to submit rebuttal evidence, and to conduct such cross-examination of witnesses as may be required for a full and true disclosure of the facts. The board of adjustment shall, as a matter of policy, provide for the exclusion of irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence and in furtherance of this policy may limit cross-examination.

(Ord. No. 2013-04, Exh. A, 5-7-2013)

A.

Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to empower the board of adjustment to change the terms of this title, to authorize uses which violate any other town ordinance, to affect changes in the zoning map, or to add to or change the uses permitted in any zoning district.

B.

Such other limitations as established by Article III of Chapter 18.12 of this title shall apply.

(Ord. No. 2013-04, Exh. A, 5-7-2013)

The decision of the board of adjustment shall be final, provided, however, that any person aggrieved by a decision of the board of adjustment or a municipal officer may, at any time within thirty days after the filing of the decision in the office of the board, petition the court for a writ of certiorari for review of the board's decision. 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 for good cause shown, grant a restraining order, and on final hearing may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the decision reviewed.

(Ord. No. 2013-04, Exh. A, 5-7-2013)