§ 11-23. Appeals.

(a)

A person may appeal the denial or revocation of a permit by delivering a written request for an appeal to the fire chief not more than 15 days after the first date of mailing written notice of denial or revocation. The notice of denial or revocation shall be sent to the permit holder or applicant by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the permit holder or applicant at the alarm site address, or to such other address specified by them in writing to the fire department.

(b)

All hearings shall be held by a hearing officer appointed by the fire chief. The fire chief shall not designate any person to perform the duties of hearing officer under this section who has participated in the investigation of false fire alarms from the alarm site in question, or has prior knowledge of the allegations or circumstances discovered in such investigation. The hearing officer, may, prior to the hearing, receive a copy of the notice given to the permit holder.

(c)

An assistant city attorney may be present at the hearing to advise the hearing officer as to procedural matters; however, the attorney shall not participate in any determination of the facts.

(d)

All hearings shall be conducted under rules consistent with the informal nature of the proceedings; provided, however, the following rules shall apply to all hearings:

(1)

All parties shall have the right to representation by an attorney licensed to practice in Texas though an attorney is not required.

(2)

Each party may present witnesses in his own behalf.

(3)

Each party has the right to cross examine all witnesses.

(4)

Only evidence presented before the hearing officer at the hearing shall be considered in rendering the decision.

(e)

The hearing officer may affirm or reverse a permit denial or a permit revocation; however, the exclusive remedy for determining whether a response was a false fire alarm response shall be the review process established in section 11-19(e) of this Code. No proceeding under this section may be used to address or reconsider the determination of whether or not a response was a false fire alarm response.

(Ord. No. 02-527, § 4, 6-19-02)