Mayor Message on Newly Adopted Ordinance Establishing an Appeal Officer
The City Council recently passed ordinance number 2022-06 in which it changed the structure of the city’s Appeal Authority (formerly known as the Board of Adjustments) shifting it from a five-member body made up of residents to a professional hearing officer. This hearing officer will typically be an attorney with specific expertise in land use and land use law but could also be another individual specifically qualified in this field. In consulting with our city attorney on this effort, there are a number of individuals available who can be hired in this capacity as needed, so staffing should not be an issue. With respect to the fees associated with hiring a third-party hearing officer, those will be passed onto the appellant. The fees will be commensurate with the nature and size of the appeal. Thus, the expectation is that the city does not foot the bill for such proceedings.
This approach is widely used by cities throughout the state as it reduces error in decision-making and permits appeals to be decided by well-qualified individuals with a sound understanding of procedural and substantive zoning issues. In short, amending the appeal authority makes for a fairer and more efficient appeal process and is also less vulnerable to abusive practices.
Another advantage to this change is that it works toward clarifying our current ordinances such that the appropriate appellate authority is empowered to decide issues that are within that appeal board’s area of expertise. Specifically, some appeals that take place in our city relate to zoning ordinances and some appeals relate to the application of building codes. The Appeal Authority/Board of Adjustment is typically tasked with hearing appeals relating to zoning ordinances. A different appeal board is tasked with appeals of a more technical nature relating to application of the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Residential Code (IRC). This IBC/IRC Board, as it is known, is also provided for in our ordinances and state law and comprises local building experts that are qualified to hear such appeals.
As a former member of the Appeal Authority/Board of Adjustment, one of the greatest challenges has been the arguable ambiguity in our code as it was previously written where the line is blurred between the types of appeals to be heard by the Appeal Authority/Board of Adjustment and the IBC/IRC Board. This arguable ambiguity has led to substantial confusion and other problems in that an appellant can seek appeal of a single issue under both boards creating considerable procedural burdens and expense. This issue is at the heart of much of the city’s current legal challenges. The previous language also created complex jurisdictional and legal standing questions that this new ordinance works toward cleaning up.
When the City Council passed this most recent ordinance, I and the City Council expressed our expectation that additional cleanup amendments will need to be considered and addressed to achieve our goal of clarifying and improving zoning and building code appeals in Woodland Hills. Getting this language reconciled is a high priority and the current plan, in discussions with our city attorney, is to have the necessary revisions to the other parts of the code presented to the public next month. We expect to adopt such changes in the March 21, 2022 City Council meeting.
The City Council was unanimous in its adoption of this ordinance and is united in its support of the underlying purposes. The Planning Commission was also unanimous in its support of the change. We have worked closely with our city attorney in all phases of this process and believe not only that we are on solid legal ground but also that the recent change and anticipated changes will make for a fairer process for all participants going forward.
The new ordinance as well as the ordinance it replaced is copied below for your reference. Please feel free to reach out to me, our City Council or Planning Commission if you have any questions about the change or want to discuss the ordinance further.
Sincerely,
Brent Winder
You can read the new ordinance and the repealed ordinance by clicking here.