The Board of Appeals created by Section 3-100(c)
of the Charter of the City of Pawtucket is hereby designated and shall
act as the Board of Review, provided that only five members of the
Board of Appeals, appointed pursuant to Section 3-702 of the Charter,
shall so act.
The Board of Review, hereinafter referred to
as the "Board," is hereby authorized to hear and decide appeals from
compliance orders. The Board shall have the power to reverse or affirm
wholly or partly or to modify any order of the Director, and in specific
cases to authorize such variance in the application of the terms of
this chapter, where owing to unusual conditions, a literal enforcement
of the provisions of this chapter will result in unnecessary hardship,
and so that the spirit of the chapter shall be observed and substantial
justice done.
Any person upon whom a compliance order has
been served may appeal from the compliance order to the Board.
An appeal to the Board shall stay all proceedings under the compliance order from which such appeal has been taken, except that the Director may certify to the Board after receipt of the notice of the appeal, as provided in §
288-40 of this chapter, that by reason of the facts stated in the certificate, any stay of proceedings would in his or her opinion cause a direct hazard or immediate peril to the health or safety of the occupants of a structure or of the public, and in such event proceedings shall not be stayed except by restraining order granted by the Chair or the Acting Chair of the Board on application therefor by the appellant, upon notice to the Director, and on due cause shown, or by a court of competent jurisdiction. Whenever a restraining order has been issued, the appeal shall be given priority over all other matters before the Board and shall be promptly heard and decided.
No member of the Board shall pass on any matter
in which he or she has a business or a personal interest.
In order for the Board to hear and decide an
appeal a quorum of three members of the Board must be present and
voting. When a quorum is not present, the hearing of the appeal shall
be adjourned from time to time, provided that reasonable notice be
given the parties in interest.
All hearings of the Board shall be de novo. All hearings shall be public, and the appellant, his or her representative, the Director and any other persons whose interests may be affected by the matter on appeal and who files a written entry of appearance shall be given an opportunity to be heard. Written entry of appearance at such hearing shall fulfill the requirements for service of any notice or order by the Director. The Chair, or in his or her absence, the Acting Chair, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses. Proceedings of the Board shall be conclusive with respect to questions of fact and may be reviewed only on questions of law by courts of competent jurisdiction as provided in §
288-49 of this chapter.
A concurring vote of a majority of the members of the Board present at the hearing shall be necessary to reverse or modify any order or decision of the Director and to authorize a variance in the application of any of the provisions of this chapter as provided in §
288-38. In the event of a tie vote of the members of the Board present at the hearing, the order or decision of the Director shall be deemed to have been sustained.
All decisions of the Board shall be in writing.
The Board shall keep clear and detailed minutes of all its proceedings,
including its decisions and the reasons therefor and the vote of each
member participating therein and the absence of a member or his or
her failure to vote. Such record, immediately following the Board's
decision, shall be filed in the office of the Board and shall be a
public record. Notice of the Board's decision shall be promptly furnished
to the appellant, his or her representative, any person who has filed
a written entry of appearance and to the Director, and the Director
shall take immediate action in accordance with the decision of the
Board.