Office of the Hearing Examiner

Purpose

An independent Hearing Examiner conducts hearings to apply general policies and regulations adopted by the City Council to specific proposals or situations. Hearings are conducted about land use applications and appeals from decisions of City departments.

Hearings

Public hearings are conducted by the Hearing Examiner to determine facts and hear arguments as to how existing laws, ordinances, and the RMC and RZC apply to the land use application or other matters being considered. Participants use the hearing to provide relevant information and express points of view. Submissions may be presented orally or in writing.

A Hearing Examiner's recommendation or decision must be consistent with the pertinent law. The most useful testimony at hearings, therefore, focuses on whether the matter complies with the particular statutes, ordinances, and policies that govern the type of action proposed. Testimony and argument are most useful if they show how a specific statute, ordinance, or section of the RMC or RZC apply to the proposal or situation.

Decisions

Depending on the type of application or appeal being considered, the Hearing Examiner's report will either be a recommendation to the Redmond City Council, or a final decision that may be appealed to Superior Court.

Decision Types

The Hearing Examiner makes decisions on appeals of Type I and Type II administrative decisions, Type III permits including Preliminary Plats, Conditional Use Permits, Reasonable Use Exceptions, Shoreline Conditional Use permits, Shoreline Variances, and Variances.

Recommendations

The Hearing Examiner makes recommendations to City Council on Type IV permits, including Planned and Master Planned Residential Developments (PRD/MPRD), Planned and Master Planned Commercial Developments (PCD/MPCD), Zoning Map Amendments that do not require a change to the Comprehensive Plan, and Essential Public Facilities permit.