3.54.080 Appeals.
A. Payment Under Protest. An applicant may pay the impact fees imposed by this chapter under protest in order to obtain a building permit. No appeal shall be permitted unless and until the impact fees at issue have been fully remitted to the city.
B. Standing. Only the applicant for the proposed development activity shall have standing to file an appeal under this section.
C. Request for Review. An applicant seeking to appeal the imposition, allowed credit against, or amount of impact fees pursuant to this chapter shall first file a request for review with the city engineer.
1. The request for review shall be submitted to the city engineer using a form provided by the city. The request for review shall be filed within twenty-one calendar days of payment of the impact fees at issue. Failure to timely file such a request shall conclusively waive the applicant’s appeal.
2. No administrative fee will be imposed for the request for review by the city engineer.
3. The city engineer shall issue his/her determination in writing regarding a request for review within thirty calendar days after receiving the request for review.
D. Determinations of the city engineer pursuant to subsection (C) of this section may be appealed by the applicant to the hearing examiner. All appeals of a city engineer determination shall proceed as follows:
1. Within fourteen calendar days of the city engineer’s determination, the applicant shall file a written notice of appeal with the city clerk. Failure to timely file such notice of appeal shall conclusively waive the applicant’s appeal. The notice of appeal shall be signed by the applicant, shall include a copy of the city engineer determination challenged by the applicant, and shall contain the following information:
a. The applicant’s name and address;
b. A description of the development activity at issue;
c. The amount of impact fees imposed by the city upon the development activity; and
d. A brief explanation as to why the applicant believes the city engineer’s determination was erroneous.
2. The city clerk shall transmit the notice of appeal to the hearing examiner, together with all documents constituting the record for the city engineer’s determination.
3. The hearing examiner shall schedule a hearing to be conducted within sixty calendar days of the city clerk’s receipt of the notice of appeal. Prior to the hearing date, the applicant and the city may submit evidence and/or briefing pursuant to a schedule issued by the hearing examiner.
4. Within ten working days after the close of the hearing, the hearing examiner shall enter written findings, conclusions, and a final decision with respect to the appeal. The hearing examiner may affirm, reverse, modify or remand, in whole or in part, the city engineer’s determination; provided, that the hearing examiner shall affirm the city engineer’s determination unless the applicant demonstrates that said determination is clearly erroneous; and provided further, that, pursuant to RCW 82.02.070, the hearing examiner may modify the impact fee amount based upon principles of fairness.
5. The decision of the hearing examiner shall be final unless appealed in accordance with MMC 22.84.080, Appeals. (Ord. 005/2019 § 9)