Opinion ID: 3035542
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Understanding the Relevant Code Provisions

Text: To understand what type of postdeprivation relief was available to the Club, we must look to the Elsmere Town Code and its legislative history. In lieu of writing its own building codes, the Town adopted, with slight modifications, various model codes published by the Association of Building Officials 17 and Code Administrators (known as BOCA codes). Relevant for our purposes is what the Town did in adopting significant provisions of the 1996 BOCA National Building Code and the 1996 BOCA National Property Maintenance Code. The latter provided the regulations under which the Apartments were condemned. Section 111 of that Code specifies the means of appeal: PM-111.1 Application for appeal: Any person affected by a decision of the code official or a notice or order issued under this code shall have the right to appeal to the board of appeals, provided that a written application for appeal is filed within 20 days after the day the decision, notice or order was served. An application for appeal shall be based on a claim that the true intent of this code or the rules legally adopted thereunder have been incorrectly interpreted, the provisions of this code do not fully apply, or the requirements of this code are adequately satisfied by other means. PM-111.2 Membership of the board: The board of appeals shall 18 consist of five members appointed by the chief appointing authority as follows: one for five years, one for four years, one for three years, one for two years, and one for one year. Thereafter, each new member shall serve for five years or until a successor has been appointed. .... PM-111.3 Notice of meeting: The board shall meet upon notice from the chairman, within ten days of the filing of an appeal, or at stated periodic meetings. PM 111.4 Open hearing: All hearings before the board shall be open to the public. The appellant, the appellant’s representative, the code official, and any person whose interests are affected shall be given an opportunity to be heard. PM-111.4.1 Procedure: The board shall adopt[,] and make available to the public through the secretary, procedures under which a hearing 19 will be conducted. The procedures shall not require compliance with strict rules of evidence but shall m andate that only relevant information be received. .... PM-111.6 Board decision: The board shall modify or reverse the decision of the code official by a concurring vote of three members. PM-111.6.1 Resolution: The decision of the board shall be by resolution. Certified copies shall be furnished to the appellant and to the code official. PM-111.6.2 Administration: The code official shall take immediate action in accordance with the decision of the board. PM-111.7 Court review: Any person, whether or not a previous party of the appeal, shall have the right to apply to the appropriate court for a writ of certiorari to 20 correct errors of law. Application for review shall be made in the manner and time required by law following the filing of the decision in the office of the chief administrative officer. BOCA Nat’l Prop. Maint. Code §§ 111.1, 111.2, 111.3, 111.4, 111.4.1, 111.6, 111.6.1, 111.6.2, 111.7 (emphasis in original). The Town, however, chose not to adopt verbatim § 111.1 through § 111.3 of the National Property Maintenance Code. Instead, in its ordinance adopting the Property Maintenance Code, the Town changed § 111.1 to read: “Any person affected by any notice which has been issued pursuant to this Ordinance may appeal the decision of the Code Official to the Board of Building Appeals, pursuant to § 121.0 of the BOCA National Building Code in effect, as amended,” and deleted §§ 111.2 and 111.3. Elsmere, Del., Ordinance § 330. All other subsections of § 111 governing the appeals process remained in effect. Section 121.1 of the BOCA National Building Code provides: 121.1 Application for appeal: Any person shall have the right to appeal a decision of the code official to the board of appeals. An application for appeal shall be 21 based on a claim that the true intent of this code or the rules legally adopted thereunder have been in c o rre c tly i n te rp re te d , th e provisions of this code do not fully apply, or an equivalent form of construction is to be used. Section 121.2 of the BOCA National Building Code, as amended by the Town, see Elsmere, Del. Ordinance § 329, provides: 121.2 Membership of board: The board of appeals shall consist of five members appointed by the Mayor as follows: One for three years, two for two years, and two for one year. Thereafter, each new member shall serve for three years or until his successor has been appointed. No member of the board shall be in the employ of the Town of Elsmere or an elected official of the Town of Elsmere.6 6 The model version of § 121.2 provides that “[t]he board of appeals shall consist of five members appointed by the chief appointing authority as follows: one for five years, one for four years, one for three years, one for two years, and one for one 22 Thus, the Town Code, even as amended, referred parties to the “board of appeals,” not the Board of Adjustment, which is the administrative body the Town claims it made available to the Club.7