The BoA shall hear the following matters:
A. Administrative appeals from decisions by the CEO. An aggrieved party may appeal a decision of the CEO regarding a zoning violation, a building permit or a certificate of occupancy in those cases where it is alleged the CEO has made an error of law, or has abused their discretion, or the evidence of record compelled a different decision. An aggrieved party may also appeal to the BoA if a permit holder has meaningfully exceeded the authority granted in their building permit or their certificate of occupancy. An appeal filed hereunder must be brought within 30 days of the alleged act, action or failure to act. This provision is intended to effectuate the process set out by the Legislature in 30-A M.R.S.A § 2691(4). The appeal review shall be de novo as set out below in §
230-1605G. The BoA may affirm, reverse or modify the decision of the CEO, and that decision may be appealed as set out in this article.
B. Variances from decisions by the CEO.
(1)
The BoA has authority to approve, approve with conditions, or
deny applications for variances from decisions made by the CEO regarding
standards of this chapter as allowed under this article. The review
conducted by the BoA on such variances shall be de novo as set out
below in this article. Such decisions by the BoA may be appealed as
set out in this article.
(2)
All variances, including those described here, and in Subsections
C and
E below, shall meet the requirements and conditions set out in this article.
C. Variances from historic preservation conditions. The BoA shall have authority to approve, approve with conditions, or deny applications for variances as further detailed in Article
XIX. The review conducted by the BoA shall be de novo as set out below in this article.
D. Historic preservation commission. The BoA may hear appeals of decisions
made by the Historic Preservation Commission. A decision by the Historic
Preservation Commission on an application for a certificate of appropriateness
may be appealed, in writing, to the BoA within 30 days of the Commission's
decision. The BoA may affirm the decision, or it may reverse the Commission's
decision upon a finding that there has been an error of law or that
the facts leading to the decision of the Commission were erroneous.
The review made by the BoA shall be appellate. If the BoA reverses
the decision of the Commission, it shall be remanded to the Commission
for further consideration, but not more than once. Thereafter, the
parties shall have their appeal rights as allowed under this article.
E. Shoreland and natural resource district variances. The BoA shall have authority to approve, approve with conditions, or deny applications for a variance from shoreland and natural resource standards set out in Article
VIII of this chapter. The review conducted by the BoA shall be de novo as set out in this article.
The BoA may reconsider any decision reached under this section within 45 days of its prior decision. A request to the BoA to reconsider a decision must be filed within 10 days of the decision that is to be reconsidered. A vote to reconsider and the action taken on that reconsideration must occur and be completed within 45 days of the date of the vote on the original decision. The BoA may conduct additional hearings and receive additional evidence and testimony as provided in this subsection. Notwithstanding §
230-1607, appeal of a reconsidered decision must be made within 15 days after the decision on reconsideration or within the applicable time period under 30-A M.R.S.A § 4482-A. if the final municipal review of the project is by a municipal administrative review board other than a board of appeal.
Any aggrieved party may take an appeal, within 45 days of the
date of the vote on the original BoA decision, to Superior Court from
any order, relief or denial in accordance with the Maine Rules of
Civil Procedure, Rule 80B.