§ 1-8.110. Hearing procedures.

(a)

For hearings involving violations of this Code, the hearing administrator will be the City Manager or his or her designee.

(b)

Hearings shall be conducted by a hearing administrator on the date, time and place specified by the City.

(c)

The Director shall ensure that the pertinent Notice and Orders are delivered to the hearing administrator. Before the hearing, the Director shall also make available to the appellant a copy of any additional information concerning the Notice and Order which has been provided to the hearing administrator.

(d)

The appellant shall be given the opportunity to testify and to present evidence relevant to the Code violation specified in the Notice and Order.

(e)

The Notice and Order and any other reports prepared by City Code Enforcement Officers or the Director concerning a Code violation or attempted correction of a Code violation that are provided to the hearing administrator shall be accepted by the hearing administrator as prima facie evidence of the Code violation and the facts stated in such documents.

(f)

The hearing administrator may continue a hearing if a request is made showing good cause by the appellant or the Director. Good cause means facts or circumstances that the hearing administrator, in his or her sole discretion, determines justify continuing the hearing. All continuance requests shall either: (1) be made in person at the hearing by the appellant or his or her representative if the appellant is physically unable to attend, or (2) be made by a written request received from the Director. If the continuance is granted, a new hearing date shall be set within thirty (30) days. If the continuance is denied, the hearing shall proceed then and there as scheduled, and if the appellant is not present, the request(s) shall be deemed abandoned in accordance with subsection (h) of this section.

(g)

The hearing shall be conducted informally and the legal rules of evidence need not be followed. The hearing administrator does not have the authority to issue a subpoena.

(h)

The failure of the appellant to appear at the hearing, unless the hearing was continued per subsection (f) of this section, shall constitute an abandonment of the appeal, and a failure to exhaust administrative remedies concerning the violation set forth in the Notice and Order.

(§ 3 (part), Ord. 940, eff. December 24, 1998, as amended by § 3, Ord. 1095, eff. July 19, 2006)