§ 23-29.1-4. Variances and appeals. (a) Variances.

(1) The joint committee on the rehabilitation building and fire code for existing buildings and structures shall serve as the board of standards and variances for the rehabilitation building and fire code. Any building owner may consult the authority having jurisdiction for advice and assistance in complying with the provisions of the rehabilitation building and fire code. In case of practical difficulties, the authority having jurisdiction shall refer any request for variance to the joint committee. The petitioner for the variance shall set forth to the joint committee in the petition the grounds or reasons for requesting the variance.

(2) The joint committee shall fix a day for hearing on the petition and shall give reasonable notice of the day to the petitioner and the property owners within two hundred (200) feet of the petitioner's building or structure when, in the board's discretion, it may have an adverse effect on neighboring properties. A properly indexed record of all variations made shall be kept in the office of the joint committee and shall be open to public inspection. Any building owner may file a petition for a variance to the board by registered mail, and a hearing date shall be set by the joint committee within thirty (30) days of filing a completed application including a filing fee, established in accordance with the following fee schedule:

(3) Petitions related to construction, alteration, renovation, and/or conversion to other use of buildings and structures:

(i) not more than eight thousand (8,000) square feet . . . one hundred dollars ($100) filing fee;

(ii) more than eight thousand (8,000) square feet but not more than twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet . . . three hundred dollars ($300) filing fee;

(iii) more than twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet but not more than fifty thousand (50,000) square feet . . . five hundred dollars ($500) filing fee;

(iv) more than fifty thousand (50,000) square feet . . . one thousand dollars ($1,000) filing fee.

(4) The term "square feet," as used in this chapter, shall be the total floor space and/or storage capacity of the subject building or structure, as determined and certified by the building code commission or his or her designee, subject to review by the board. The joint committee chairperson may delegate a subcommittee of the joint committee to conduct a hearing and take testimony from the petitioner. The subcommittee shall make recommendations to the joint committee as to their findings, and a decision shall be rendered within ten (10) days of the subcommittee's report. If the petitioner is aggrieved by the subcommittee's recommendations, the petitioner shall have the right of hearing before the entire joint committee within thirty (30) days of the rendered decision.

(5) The application filing fee income shall be deposited as general review.

(b) Appeals, Review of refusal of variation -- Review of final order. Any building owner aggrieved by any decision of the joint committee refusing to grant a variation pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) may, within thirty (30) days after the decision, commence an action in district court against the executive secretary of the joint committee, only in his or her official capacity for a review of the decision. The findings of the joint committee shall be conclusive unless clearly erroneous. A party aggrieved by a final order of the court may seek review thereof in the supreme court by petition for writ of certiorari in accordance with the procedures contained in § 42-45-16.

History of Section. (P.L. 2000, ch. 185, § 6; P.L. 2000, ch. 290, § 6.)