2009-06-05 TDOLENA - Laserfiche WebLink

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WOODWARD: Commissioner Ishibashi. ISHIBASHI: Just one point of clarification in regards to the pond. You say the pond was in existence prior to her purchasing the property? DARROW: ThatÓs my understanding. I mean maybe the applicant can go into detail. It was my understanding that the previous owner had actually dug this massive hole and -. But, again, we can get further clarification from the applicant. ISHIBASHI: Thank you. WOODWARD: All right. Any other questions for staff? Seeing none, we have had a late submission of a petition for contested case hearing; and weÓll ask Mr. Gonzalez, our Corporation Counsel, to fill us in. GONZALEZ: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. According to our rules, the Commission has to take up the matter of whether or not to grant or deny the request for petition for standing in a contested case hearing before it can proceed any further. So submitted. And so the Commission has to decide now whether or not to grant or deny. I would like to point out that according to our, the Planning Commission rules, the petition for standing in a contested case hearing is required to be filed no later than seven days prior to the CommissionÓs first scheduled public hearing to consider the application. So what that means is th that today is the first day of public hearing on this application, Friday, June 5. Seven days prior th to this would have made filing date May 29. According to the files and records with the Department the written submission for petition for standing in contested case hearing was not received and filed with the Department until June 1, 2009, which puts it in violation of Rule 4-7, subsection (a). Also, according to the records and files, the applicant in this case was informed of the hearing date pursuant to Planning Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure 6-5 by thth letter dated May 6. And then on May 14, on or about May 14, 2009, the applicant provided written notification and mailed it to owners pursuant to Rule 6-5. Within that written notification th to owners the language explicitly states that the hearing is on Friday, June 5 and that as a neighboring landowner you have the right to submit a written request for a contested case procedure and to file such written request on the attached form Contested Case Hearing,Ñ that the request shall be filed with the filing fee and that the required information shall be submitted no later than seven calendar days scheduled public hearing. Now the practical implication of that is that a contested hearing is basically a proceeding where a person or agency is recognized as a party to the proceeding and they are given certain procedural rights, like cross-examination, written arguments to the Commission and written finding. The contested case hearing is not a constitution or statutory right. Persons or agencies have the constitutional and statutory right to participate and be heard in a hearing when required by law. However, the right to participate and be heard can be accomplished without having to secure formal party status or the right to cross-examination, etc., and without violating the partyÓs constitutional due process or statutory rights. EXHIBIT B 5