§ 23-29.1-4 - Variances and appeals.
SECTION 23-29.1-4
§ 23-29.1-4 Variances and appeals. –(a) Variances. (1) The joint committee on the rehabilitationbuilding and fire code for existing buildings and structures shall serve as theboard of standards and variances for the rehabilitation building and fire code.Any building owner may consult the authority having jurisdiction for advice andassistance in complying with the provisions of the rehabilitation building andfire code. In case of practical difficulties, the authority having jurisdictionshall refer any request for variance to the joint committee. The petitioner forthe variance shall set forth to the joint committee in the petition the groundsor reasons for requesting the variance.
(2) The joint committee shall fix a day for hearing on thepetition and shall give reasonable notice of the day to the petitioner and theproperty owners within two hundred (200) feet of the petitioner's building orstructure when, in the board's discretion, it may have an adverse effect onneighboring properties. A properly indexed record of all variations made shallbe kept in the office of the joint committee and shall be open to publicinspection. Any building owner may file a petition for a variance to the boardby registered mail, and a hearing date shall be set by the joint committeewithin thirty (30) days of filing a completed application including a filingfee, established in accordance with the following fee schedule:
(3) Petitions related to construction, alteration,renovation, and/or conversion to other use of buildings and structures:
(i) not more than eight thousand (8,000) square feet . . . one hundred dollars ($100) filing fee;
(ii) more than eight thousand (8,000) square feet but notmore than twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet . . . threehundred dollars ($300) filing fee;
(iii) more than twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet butnot more than fifty thousand (50,000) square feet . . . fivehundred dollars ($500) filing fee;
(iv) more than fifty thousand (50,000) square feet . . . one thousand dollars ($1,000) filing fee.
(4) The term "square feet," as used in this chapter, shall bethe total floor space and/or storage capacity of the subject building orstructure, as determined and certified by the building code commission or hisor her designee, subject to review by the board. The joint committeechairperson may delegate a subcommittee of the joint committee to conduct ahearing and take testimony from the petitioner. The subcommittee shall makerecommendations to the joint committee as to their findings, and a decisionshall be rendered within ten (10) days of the subcommittee's report. If thepetitioner is aggrieved by the subcommittee's recommendations, the petitionershall have the right of hearing before the entire joint committee within thirty(30) days of the rendered decision.
(5) The application filing fee income shall be deposited asgeneral review.
(b) Appeals, Review of refusal of variation – Reviewof final order. Any building owner aggrieved by any decision of the jointcommittee refusing to grant a variation pursuant to the provisions ofsubsection (a) may, within thirty (30) days after the decision, commence anaction in district court against the executive secretary of the jointcommittee, only in his or her official capacity for a review of the decision.The findings of the joint committee shall be conclusive unless clearlyerroneous. A party aggrieved by a final order of the court may seek reviewthereof in the supreme court by petition for writ of certiorari in accordancewith the procedures contained in § 42-45-16.