Whenever the Mayor and City Council of Havre de Grace, as a
legislative body, or the Mayor of the City of Havre de Grace in his
capacity as chief executive of the City, are parties to a lawsuit
which involves the interpretation or construction of a City Charter
provision, a City Code provision, a City ordinance, Council resolution,
or a contract or other agreement, then all future acts that would
ordinarily occur under such Charter or Code provision, ordinance,
resolution or contract shall be stayed and no new permits shall be
issued or further City approvals shall be granted with regard to the
specific Charter or Code provision, or ordinance, resolution or contract
which is the subject to the lawsuit, until such time as the lawsuit
is finally concluded and after all appeals have been taken or the
time for appeal has expired. This moratorium shall act as a temporary
stay of the issuance of any permits or granting of City approvals
(including those that might be granted by the Planning Commission
or Board of Appeals) and is self-executing and does not require the
City to file a motion to stay in any court.
The permits or City approvals which are subject to this moratorium
include those which would issue under the City Code, including, but
not limited to, grading permits, building permits, use and occupancy
permits, and any Planning Commission, Board of Appeals, Department
of Planning or Department of Public Works approvals, as well as any
executory acts by the Mayor under City ordinances, Council resolutions
and contracts or other agreements that anticipate future performance
by the City.
The moratorium shall end upon the expiration of the time period
for the filing of a final appeal.
Notwithstanding the moratorium set forth in §
1-13 of this Article
III, the City Council, by resolution and for good cause shown, may grant a waiver from such a moratorium, provided the matter has been set forth as an item on the Council meeting agenda.
To the extent that a court or administrative body enters a final
order confirming or approving the City's interpretation or construction
of the City Charter, City Code, City ordinance, Council resolution,
or contract or other agreement, then the City, as prevailing party,
may request reimbursement of the City's attorneys' fees and out-of-pocket
costs incurred by the City in such lawsuit subject to an order by
a court of competent jurisdiction.