Ordinance 08-022 Amending SVMC: Appeal Hearing Procedures CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY
SPOKANE COUNTY WASHINGTON
ORDINANCE NO. 08-022
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY, SPOKANE COUNTY,
WASHINGTON, AMENDING SPOKANE VALLEY MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION
17.90.090 REGARDING CITY COUNCIL APPEAL HEARING PROCEDURES.
WHEREAS, the City adopted Spokane Valley Municipal Code 17.90.090 pursuant to Ordinance
07-015 entitled City Council appeal hearing procedures;
WHEREAS, in adopting SVMC 17.09.090, the Appendix where the City Council hearing
procedures were to be identified was incorrectly identified as Appendix B; and
WHEREAS, the City Council now wishes to correct that error and add Appendix C, the quasi-
judicial appeal hearing procedures, to the Uniform Development Code.
NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Spokane Valley, Washington, ordains as
follows:
Section 1. Intent. It is the intent of the City Council to provide procedural guidance to
entities that desire to appeal quasi-judicial land use decisions issued by the Hearing Examiner.
Section 2. Amending portions of SVMC 17.90.090 relating to appeals from decisions of the
City Hearing Examiner. Title 17, Chapter 90, Subsection 090 of the City of Spokane Valley Municipal
Code is amended as follows:
17.90.090 City council appeal hearing procedures. All appeals to the City
Council shall be conducted in the manner set forth in Appendix C.
Section 3. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence or clause of this chapter is for
any reason held to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this
chapter.
Section 4. Effective date. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect five days after
publication of this Ordinance or a summary thereof occurs in the official newspaper of the City as
provided by law.
Approved this 14th day of October, 2008.
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ity Clerk, Christine Bainbridge
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Date of Publication:
Effective Date: /(J — g.di
Ordinance 08-022 Amending SVMC 17.90.090,City council appeal hearing procedures Page 1 of 4
Appendix C
1.. The Council shall not consider any new facts or evidence outside the verbatim transcript and
certified record submitted by the Hearing Examiner,except for:
a. Grounds for disqualification of the Hearing Examiner,when such grounds were unknown
by the appellant at the time the record was created; or
b. Matters that were improperly excluded from the record after being offered by a party to
the hearing,before the Hearing Examiner; or
c. Matters that were outside the jurisdiction of the Hearing Examiner.
The Council shall allow the record to be supplemented if the offering party demonstrates grounds for
supplementation as set forth in items (a),(b),or(c), immediately above.
i. Any party requesting that the record be supplemented shall submit such request
along with the specific evidence to be offered to the Council, within fourteen (14)
calendar days of the date the appeal hearing was scheduled.
ii. The Council may require or permit the correction of ministerial errors or
inadvertent omissions in the preparation of the record.
iii. The Council will allow the submittal of memoranda by the appellant, or a party
of record in opposition to the appeal, subject to the following requirements:
1. The appellant may file a memorandum in support of the appeal. The
memorandum must be filed no later than 1.2:00 noon on the third (3`d)
Friday preceding the date set by the council for consideration of the
appeal.
2. A.ny party of record in opposition to the appeal may submit a reply
memorandum in opposition to the appeal. Any reply memorandum must
be filed no later than 12:00 noon on the second (2°d)Friday preceding the
date set for consideration of the appeal.
3. All memoranda shall be limited to stating why the record or applicable
laws or regulations does or does not support the decision, and shall not.
contain any new facts or evidence, or discuss matters outside the record;
except as permitted above.
4. The offering party shall promptly submit a copy of the memorandum or
request to supplement the record to the City Attorney, and to opposing
parties as practicable.
2. The Council will allow oral argument by the appellant, or a party of record in opposition to the
appeal, subject to the following requirements:
a. It is expected that all parties can reasonably be aligned as either in support of the appeal
or opposed to the appeal.. Accordingly, all parties who desire to make oral argument shall
communicate with other parties aligned on the same side of the appeal and attempt to
reach agreement in selecting a representative, or otherwise arrange for the allocation of
time allowed under these rules to those in support of or those opposed to the appeal.
Ordinance 08-022 Amending SVMC 17.90.090.City council appeal hearing procedures Page 2 of 4
b. Oral argument shall be presented first by the appellant, followed by those parties of
record in opposition to the appeal, and then rebuttal and surrebuttal.
c. Oral argument shall be limited to stating why the record or applicable laws or regulations
do not support the decision, and shall not contain any new facts or evidence unless
allowed by Section"1."
d. Oral argument shall be limited to twenty (20) minutes total for the appellant, and twenty
(20) minutes total for those parties in opposition to the appeal, regardless of how many
parties make up each side.
e. The respective times allowed for oral argument above include the combined time used by
a side for opening argument, rebuttal and surrebuttal. The time taken to respond to
questions from the Council is not included in the time allowed for argument.
3. The Council may affirm or reverse the Hearing Examiner's decision, or remand it for further
proceedings. The Hearing Examiner's decision will be presumed to be correct and supported by
the record and law. A tie vote on any motion shall have the effect of affirming the hearing
examiner decision.
4. The Council may reverse the Hearing Examiner's decision, or remand it for further proceedings,
if the appellant has carried the burden of establishing that one or more of the following standards
is met:
a. The Hearing Examiner engaged in unlawful procedure or failed to follow a prescribed
process, unless the error was harmless;
b. The decision is an erroneous interpretation of the law, after allowing for such deference
as is due to construction of law by a local jurisdiction with expertise;
c. The decision is not supported by evidence that is substantial when viewed in light of the
entire record;
d. The decision is a clearly erroneous application of the law to the facts;
e. The decision is outside the authority of the Hearing Examiner.
5. The Council may also remand the decision to the Hearing Examiner if the appellant offers newly
discovered evidence that would reasonably have affected the decision, had it been admitted in the
proceedings before the Hearing Examiner. "Newly discovered evidence" is evidence that with
reasonable diligence, could not have been discovered and produced at the time the proceedings
before the Hearing Examiner were conducted.
6. The Council shall adopt written findings and conclusion in support of its decision. If the Council
concludes that a finding of fact by the Hearing Examiner, upon which the decision is based, is not
supported by substantial evidence, the Council may modify the finding or substitute its own
finding, citing substantial evidence in the record that supports the modified or substitute finding.
In the event of a tie vote on the proposed findings of fact, that vote shall be considered a final
action, the findings shall reflect the same, and the decision of the hearing examiner shall be
affirmed.
Ordinance 08-022 Amending SVMC 17.90.090,City council appeal hearing procedures Page 3 of 4
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7. The Council's decision shall include a notice stating that the decision can be appealed within
twenty-one (21) calendar days from the date the decision was issued, by filing a Land Use
Petition with the Superior Court as provided in RCW Chapter 36.70C and meeting the other
provision of such chapter, and that the decision shall act as official notice under RCW
43.21C.075.
8. The notice included in the Council's decision shall also state that affected property owners may
request the Spokane County Assessor for a change in valuation for property tax purposes
notwithstanding any program of revaluation, pursuant to RCW 36.70B.130.
9. The City Clerk shall, within five (5) business days from the date of the Council's decision on the
appeal, mail a copy of the Council's decision to the appellant, the applicant (if different that the
appellant), any other party who testified or submitted a memorandum at the closed record appeal
hearing before the Council, any person who requested notice of the decision, and any person who
submitted substantive comments on the application. The City Clerk shall also provide notice of
the decision to the County Assessor.
10. Where the Hearing Examiner's decision recommends approval of the proposal and no appeal has
been filed within the time period set forth above, the City Manager or designee shall modify the
official zoning map of the City according to the Hearing Examiner's decision. The modification
of the zoning map completes the Hearing Examiner's decision and shall be considered the final
legislative action of the City Council. Such final action, for zoning purposes, is considered an
"official control" of the City by exercise of its zoning and planning authority pursuant to
Washington law.
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