Any person, including the applicant for any land use application approval, license, or permit required by this title and any decision making body or officer of the county, adversely affected by a decision of a land use authority administering or interpreting this title may appeal the decision to the appeal authority, as identified by this chapter. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

To provide for appeals of decisions of land use authorities and to comply with the act, the following appeal authorities, with their appeal responsibilities are identified. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

   A.   Any person aggrieved by a final decision of the BOCC may file a petition with district court.

   B.   Any person aggrieved by a final decision of the LUHO may file a petition with district court. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

   A.   Any person aggrieved by a final decision of the commission may file an appeal application with the BOCC. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

   A.   Any person aggrieved by a final decision of the county planner/zoning administrator, as required by this title, may file an appeal application with the LUHO. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

A person, including the applicant for any land use application required by this title and any decision making body or officer of the county, adversely affected by a decision of a land use authority administering or interpreting this title may, within ten (10) calendar days of the date of the decision, appeal the decision to the appeal authority identified by this chapter, except an appeal of a final decision by the BOCC shall be filed within thirty (30) calendar days with the district court, as provided by section 10-14-15 of this chapter. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

An appeal of a land use authority's decision shall identify the alleged error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by the land use authority. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

   A.   As a condition precedent to judicial review, each adversely affected person shall timely and specifically challenge a land use authority's decision, in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.

   B.   An appeal authority shall:

      1.   Act in a quasi-judicial manner; and

      2.   Serve as the final arbiter of issues involving the interpretation or application of land use ordinances; and

      3.   May not entertain an appeal of a matter in which the appeal authority, or any participating member, had first acted as the land use authority.

   C.   An appeal authority shall require an adversely affected party to present every theory of relief that it can raise in district court.

   D.   An appeal authority shall not require an adversely affected party to pursue duplicate or successive appeals before it or another appeal authority as a condition of the adversely affected party's duty to exhaust administrative remedies. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

An appeal of any order, requirement, decision, or determination of a land use authority shall be made by filing an appeal application, complying with the requirements as provided by the administrative manual. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

Each appeal authority shall:

   A.   Notify each of its members of any meeting or hearing;

   B.   Provide each of its members with the same information and access to county resources as any other member;

   C.   Convene only if a quorum of its members is present; and

   D.   Act only upon the vote of a majority of its convened members.

   E.   The county planner/zoning administrator, county clerk and county attorney shall transmit to the appeal authority all materials constituting the full record of the decision of the land use authority.

   F.   Following a written decision by the appeal authority, the county planner/zoning administrator and/or the county clerk shall provide the applicant with a copy of the written decision.

   G.   A record of the decisions of the appeal authority shall be maintained in the office of the county clerk, which shall constitute the record of the appeal. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

   A.   An appeal authority shall conduct each appeal as provided.

   B.   An appeal authority shall respect the due process rights of each of the participants. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

Any person presenting an appeal application alleging an error of a land use authority's order, requirement, decision, or determination has the burden of proof that the land use authority erred. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

   A.   Each appeal authority shall hear and review all appeal applications "on the record", including the review of all factual matters. Each appeal authority shall only consider the materials presented and originally before the land use authority in making the decision that is the subject of the appeal.

   B.   The appeal authority shall determine the correctness of the order, requirement, decision, or determination of the land use authority.

   C.   Only those decisions where a land use authority has applied the requirements of this title to a particular application, person, lot, or parcel may be appealed to an appeal authority.

   D.   An appeal application shall not be used to waive, modify, or amend any requirement, provision, or term of this title. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

A decision of each appeal authority shall take effect on the date when the appeal authority, as applicable, issues a written decision, which shall constitute a final decision by the county in the matter. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)

   A.   Required Time For Filing:

      1.   No person may challenge in district court a decision of a land use authority until that person has exhausted all administrative remedies as provided by this chapter and received a final decision from an appeal authority.

      2.   Any person adversely affected by a final order, requirement, decision, or determination made in the exercise of or in violation of the provisions of this title may file a petition for review of the order, requirement, decision, or determination with the district court within thirty (30) calendar days after the appeal authority's decision is final.

   B.   Tolling Of Time:

      1.   The required time for filing for district court review shall be tolled from the date the person files a request for arbitration of a constitutional taking issue with the property rights ombudsman, as provided by section 13-43-204 Utah Code Annotated, until thirty (30) days after:

         a.   The arbitrator issues a final award; or

         b.   The property rights ombudsman issues a written statement under section 13-43-204(3)(b) Utah Code Annotated, declining to arbitrate or to appoint an arbitrator.

      2.   A tolling under this section operates only as to the specific constitutional taking issue that is the subject of the request for arbitration filed with the property rights ombudsman by a property owner.

      3.   A request for arbitration filed with the property rights ombudsman after the time under subsection B1 of this section to file a petition has expired does not affect the time to file a petition.

   C.   Standards Governing Court Review:

      1.   The court shall:

         a.   Presume that a final decision made under the authority of the act is valid; and

         b.   Determine only whether or not the final decision is arbitrary, capricious, or illegal.

      2.   A decision, ordinance, or regulation involving the exercise of legislative discretion is valid if the decision, ordinance, or regulation is reasonably debatable and not illegal.

      3.   A decision of a land use authority or an appeal authority involving the exercise of administrative discretion is valid if the decision is supported by substantial evidence in the record and is not arbitrary, capricious, or illegal.

      4.   A determination of illegality requires a determination that the decision, ordinance, or regulation violates a law, statute, or ordinance in effect at the time the decision was made or the ordinance or regulation adopted.

      5.   The time requirements for the filing of a petition with district court, as provided by this section apply from the date on which the land use authority takes final action on a land use application for any adversely affected third party, if the land use authority conformed with the notice provisions of this title, as applicable, or for any person who had actual notice of the pending decision.

      6.   If the county has complied with the notice requirements, as provided by this title, a challenge to the enactment of this title or the enactment of the Millard County general plan may not be filed with the district court more than thirty (30) calendar days after the enactment.

      7.   A petition is barred unless it is filed within thirty (30) calendar days after the appeal authority's decision is final.

   D.   Record On Review:

      1.   The land use authority or appeal authority, as the case may be, shall transmit to district court the record of its proceedings, including all minutes, findings, orders, and, if available, a true and correct transcript of its proceedings.

      2.   If the proceeding was tape recorded, a transcript of that tape recording is a true and correct transcript for purposes of this section.

      3.   If there is a record, the district court's review is limited to the record provided by the land use authority or appeal authority, as the case may be.

      4.   The district court may not accept or consider any evidence outside the record of the land use authority or appeal authority, as the case may be, unless that evidence was offered to the land use authority or appeal authority, respectively, and the court determines that it was improperly excluded.

      5.   If there is no record, the court may call witnesses and take evidence.

      6.   The filing of an appeal does not stay the decision of the land use authority or appeal authority, as the case may be.

   E.   Staying Of Decision:

      1.   Before filing a petition under this section, or a request for mediation or arbitration of a constitutional taking issue under section 13-43-204 Utah Code Annotated, the aggrieved party may petition the appeal authority to stay its decision.

      2.   Upon receipt of a petition to stay, the appeal authority may order its decision stayed pending district court review, if the appeal authority finds it to be in the best interest of the county.

      3.   After a petition is filed under this section, or a request for mediation or arbitration of a constitutional taking issue is filed under section 13-43-204 Utah Code Annotated, the petitioner may seek an injunction staying the appeal authority's decision. (Ord. 12-12-04, 12-4-2012)