1. STAFF. Final Action by either the Planning Director or Planning Staff may be appealed to the Planning Commission. Final Action regarding the Design Guidelines for Historic Districts and Historic Sites shall be reviewed by the Historic Preservation Board.
   
2. HISTORIC PRESERVATION BOARD (HPB). The City or any Person with standing adversely affected by any decision of the Historic Preservation Board may be appealed to the Board of Adjustment, except that HPB Final Action on appeals from Planning Staff or the Planning Director regarding the Design Guidelines for Historic Districts and Historic Sites may be appealed to District Court in Summit County. 
   
3. PLANNING COMMISSION. The City or any Person with standing adversely affected by a Final Action by the Planning Commission on appeals of Staff action may petition the District Court in Summit County for a review of the decision. Final Action by the Planning Commission concerning Conditional Use permits (excluding those Conditional Use permits decided by Staff and appealed to the Planning Commission; final action on such an appeal shall be appealed to the District Court) and MPDs may be appealed to a City Land Use Hearing Officer. Only those decisions in which the Planning Commission has applied a land Use ordinance to a particular Application, Person, or Parcel may be appealed to an appeal authority. 
   
   1. LAND USE HEARING OFFICER APPOINTMENT AND QUALIFICATIONS. The appointment of the Land Use Hearing Officer shall be made after publicly noticed request for qualifications. Qualifications shall include a weighted priority for the following: five years or more of prior experience in an adjudicative or local government land use position, and a legal degree. A Land Use Hearing Officer shall have the ability to:
      
      1. Conduct quasi-judicial administrative hearings in an orderly, impartial and highly professional manner.
         
      2. Follow complex oral and written arguments and identify key issues of local concern.
         
      3. Master non-legal concepts required to analyze specific situations.
         
      4. Absent any conflict of interest, render findings and determinations on cases heard, based on neutral consideration of the issues, sound legal reasoning, and good judgment.
         
   2. PROCESS. Any hearing before a Land Use Hearing Officer shall be recorded and may be held electronically upon the approval of the Land Use Hearing Officer. The City Recorder or designee shall maintain a written record of the hearing and Final Action. Any appeals pending at the time this section is adopted, or filed before September 15, 2025, will be heard by outside counsel to the former Appeal Panel unless a Hearing Officer has been appointed under subsection C of this section.
   3. TERM. The appointment of Land Use Hearing Officer(s) shall be for terms of three (3) years.
      
4. STANDING TO APPEAL. The following have standing to appeal a Final Action: 
   
   1. A Land Use Applicant: a property owner, or the property owner's designee, who submits a Land Use Application regarding the property owner's land; 
      
   2. An Adversely Affected Party: a person other than a Land Use Applicant who:
      1. owns Property within three hundred feet (300') of the boundary of the subject site; or
      2. will suffer a damage different in kind than, or an injury distinct from, that of the general community as a result of the Land Use Decision.  
         
   3. A Property Owner, Business Owner, or Resident Who Commented: a person who submitted written comment or testified on a proposal before the Planning Department, Historic Preservation Board, or Planning Commission and is also either:
      1. a person who owns real property within Park City municipal boundaries; or
      2. a person who owns a business that operates within Park City municipal boundaries; or
      3. a person who is a resident of Park City. A resident is a person who is registered to vote in the Park City municipal boundaries and who resides within Park City municipal boundaries at the time the comment is submitted.
         
5. TIMING. All appeals must be made within ten (10) calendar days of the Final Action except for an appeal from a decision by the historic preservation authority which is a decision by Staff regarding the Design Guidelines for Historic Districts and Historic Sites or a decision by the Historic Preservation Board regarding a land use application, the applicant may appeal the decision within thirty (30) days after the day on which the historic preservation authority issues a written decision. The reviewing body, with the consultation of the appellant, shall set a date for the appeal. All appeals shall be heard by the reviewing authority within forty-five (45) days of the date that the appellant files an appeal unless all parties, including the City, stipulate otherwise.
   
6. FORM OF APPEALS. Appeals to the Planning Commission, Board of Adjustment, or Historic Preservation Board must be filed with the Planning Department. Appeals to a Land Use Hearing Officer must be filed with the City Recorder. Appeals must be by letter or petition, and must contain the name, address, and telephone number of the petitioner; the petitioner's relationship to the project or subject Property; and a comprehensive statement of all the reasons for the appeal, including specific provisions of the law, if known, that are alleged to be violated by the action taken. The Appellant shall pay the applicable fee established by resolution when filing the appeal.
   
7. BURDEN OF PROOF AND STANDARD OF REVIEW. The appeal authority shall act in a quasi-judicial manner. The appellant has the burden of proving that the land use authority erred. The appeal authority shall review factual matters on the record, with deference to the land use authority. The appeal authority shall determine the correctness of the land use authority's interpretation and application of the plain meaning of the land use regulations, and interpret and apply a land use regulation to favor a land use application unless the land use regulation plainly restricts the land use application. All appeals must be made in writing. Review of petitions of appeal shall be limited to consideration of only those matters raised by the petition(s). The land use authority may not review discretionary or quasi-legislative approvals pursuant to the zoning ordinance, including but not limited to granting additional height, setbacks, or parking exceptions pursuant to performance zoning or site improvements in MPD and AMPD applications. Appeals of such determinations shall be directly to District Court in Summit County.
   
8. NON-ADVERSARIAL PROCESS. For all appeals before a Land Use Hearing Officer, and any Board or Commission, the following shall apply:
   1. The procedural hearings and reviews established by the City's regulatory procedures does not adopt or utilize in any way the adversary criminal or civil justice system used in the courts.
      
   2. The role of City staff, including legal staff, is to provide technical and legal advice and professional judgment to each appeal authority, as they are not advocates of any party or position in a dispute, notwithstanding the fact that their technical and legal advice and professional judgment may lead them to make recommendations concerning the matter.
      
   3. In the absence of clear evidence in the record that a staff member has lost impartiality as a technical adviser, the City's need for consistent, coherent and experienced advisers outweighs any claims of bias by the applicant.
9. WRITTEN FINDINGS REQUIRED. The Land Use Hearing Officer shall direct staff to prepare detailed written Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and the Order.
   
10. LAND USE HEARING OFFICER ACTION ON APPEALS. 
    
    1. The Land Use Hearing Officer, with the consultation of the appellant and City staff, shall set a date for the appeal. 
       
    2. The City Recorder shall notify the Property Owner and/or the Applicant of the appeal date. The City Recorder shall obtain the findings, conclusions and all other pertinent information from the Planning Department and shall transmit them to the Land Use Hearing Officer. 
       
    3. The Land Use Hearing Officer may affirm, reverse, or affirm in part and reverse in part any properly appealed decision of the Planning Commission. The Land Use Hearing Officer may remand the matter to the appropriate body with directions for specific Areas of review or clarification. 
       
    4. The Land Use Hearing Officer must prepare written findings within fifteen (15) working days of the hearing on the matter. 
       
11. CITY COUNCIL RETAINS FINAL AUTHORITY. Subject to the requirements of Utah Code Sections 10-9a- 532(2)(a)(iii) and 10-9a-804, as amended, the City Council may modify any Final Action of any land use application by settlement, development agreement, or consent agreement. Such approvals must be at an open, public meeting.
    
12. NOTICE. There shall be no additional notice for appeals of Staff determination other than listing the matter on the agenda, unless notice of the Staff review was provided, in which case the same notice must be given for the appeal. Notice of appeals of Final Action by the Planning Commission and Historic Preservation Board; notice of all appeals to the Hearing Officer, or reconsiderations, shall be given as provided in Section 15-1-21. 
    
13. STAY OF APPROVAL PENDING REVIEW OF APPEAL. Upon the filing of an appeal, any approval granted under this Title will be suspended until the appeal body, pursuant to this Section 15-1-18 has acted on the appeal.  
    
14. APPEAL FROM THE HEARING OFFICER. The Applicant or any Person aggrieved by City action on the project may appeal the Final Action by a Land Use Hearing Officer to a court of competent jurisdiction. The decision of a Land Use Hearing Officer stands, and those affected by the decision may act in reliance on it unless and until the court enters an interlocutory or final order modifying the decision.
    
15. RECONSIDERATION. The City Council, and any Board or Commission, may reconsider at any time any legislative decision upon an affirmative vote of a majority of that body. The City Council, and any Board or Commission, may reconsider any quasi-judicial decision upon an affirmative vote of a majority of that body at any time prior to Final Action. Any action taken by the deciding body shall not be reconsidered or rescinded at a special meeting unless the number of members of the deciding body present at the special meeting is equal to or greater than the number of members present at the meeting when the action was approved.