Legal Review Committee Agenda and Packet 2020 06 10

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CXtycf LEGAL REVIEW COMMITTEE Louisville COMMUNICATION COLORADO -SINCE 1.878 SUBJECT: PUBLIC HEARINGS AND QUASI-JUDICIAL HEARINGS DATE: JUNE 10, 2020 PRESENTED BY: KATHLEEN KELLY, CITY ATTORNEY SUMMARY: At its May 26, 2020 meeting, the City Council requested the Legal Review Committee review (1) what is a "public hearing"; and (2) whether the City Council is required by Charter or ordinance to hold public hearings in person, or whether there is any legal duty to hold public hearings in person. A public hearing in the most general sense is a hearing held to receive public comment on a matter before the City Council after providing public notice. A quasi-judicial hearing is a type of public hearing held when the law requires that due process be afforded parties in interest; a quasi-judicial hearing requires notice and an opportunity to be heard before an impartial decision -maker, the decision must be based on the evidence presented at the hearing, and the decision is subject to judicial review for abuse of discretion. The City's Home Rule Charter requires public hearings on ordinances (Charter § 4-10), prior to setting the ballot title for an initiated or referred measure (Charter § 7-4), and in connection with adoption of the budget (Charter § 11-4). None of these sections in the Charter provide any specific procedure for the required public hearings, and none of these hearings are quasi-judicial hearings. The City's municipal code contains more than sixty references to public hearings required in connection with various actions by the City, including in Title 3 (Business Assistance Agreements), Title 4 (City Open Space), Title 5 (Business Licenses and Regulations), Title 15 (Historic Preservation), Title 16 (Subdivisions), and Title 17 (Zoning). Some of these are quasi-judicial hearings and some are not. As Mayor pro tem Maloney noted at the May 26 City Council meeting, the zoning code provides the following definition of "public hearing" for the purposes of the zoning code: Public hearing means a meeting called by a public body for which public notice has been given and which is held in a place at which the general public may attend to hear issues and to express their opinions. LMC § 17.08.400. This appears to be the only definition provided in connection with the many public hearings required in various Titles of the Code (there is no definition of "public hearing" in LMC § 1.04.010, which defines words and phrases applicable whenever used in the Code) and is consistent with the general view of what constitutes a public hearing. LEGAL REVIEW COMMITTEE COMMUNICATION