§ 45-53-5 - Appeals to state housing appeals board – Judicial review.
SECTION 45-53-5
§ 45-53-5 Appeals to state housing appealsboard – Judicial review. – (a) Whenever an application filed under the provisions of § 45-53-4 isdenied, or is granted with conditions and requirements that make the buildingor operation of the housing infeasible, the applicant has the right to appealto the state housing appeals board established by § 45-53-7, for a reviewof the application. The appeal shall be taken within twenty (20) days after thedate of the notice of the decision by the local review board by filing with theappeals board a statement of the prior proceedings and the reasons upon whichthe appeal is based.
(b) The appeals board shall immediately notify the localreview board of the filing of the petition for review and the latter shall,within ten (10) days of the receipt of the notice, transmit a copy of itsdecision and the reasons for that decision to the appeals board.
(c) The appeal shall be heard by the appeals board withintwenty (20) days after the receipt of the applicant's statement. A stenographicrecord of the proceedings shall be kept and the appeals board shall render awritten decision and order, based upon a majority vote, stating its findings offact, and its conclusions and the reasons for those conclusions, within thirty(30) days after the termination of the hearing, unless the time has beenextended by mutual agreement between the appeals board and the applicant. Thedecision and order may be appealed in the superior court within twenty (20)days of the issuance of the decision. The review shall be conducted by thesuperior court without a jury. The court shall consider the record of thehearing before the state housing appeals board and, if it appears to the courtthat additional evidence is necessary for the proper disposition of the matter,it may allow any party to the appeal to present that evidence in open court,which evidence, along with the report, constitutes the record upon which thedetermination of the court is made.
(d) The court shall not substitute its judgment for that ofthe state housing appeals board as to the weight of the evidence on questionsof fact. The court may affirm the decision of the state housing appeals boardor remand the case for further proceedings, or may reverse or modify thedecision if substantial rights of the appellant have been prejudiced because offindings, inferences, conclusions, or decisions which are:
(1) In violation of constitutional, statutory, or ordinanceprovisions;
(2) In excess of the authority granted to the state housingappeal board by statute or ordinance;
(3) Made upon unlawful procedure;
(4) Affected by other error of law;
(5) Clearly erroneous in view of the reliable, probative, andsubstantial evidence of the whole record; or
(6) Arbitrary or capricious or characterized by abuse ofdiscretion or clearly unwarranted exercise of discretion.
(e) Any appeal from the superior court to the supreme courtpursuant to this section shall be by writ of certiorari.