2019 US Virgin Islands Code
Title 12 - Conservation
Chapter 21 - Virgin Islands Coastal Zone Management
§ 914. Board of Land Use Appeals
(a) Administrative appeals or coastal zone permit applications. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any aggrieved person may file an appeal of an action by the Commission, its Committees, or the Commissioner taken pursuant to section 910 or 911 of this chapter within forty-five days thereof with the Board of Land Use Appeals, and such appeal shall be governed solely by the provisions of this section.
(b) Procedures on appeal. The Board shall prepare a form of application for such appeals and shall adopt in the manner required by law rules and regulations governing the submission and review of applications for appeal and the notice and procedures for conduct of public hearings on such an appeal. In addition to public notice, personal notice of such a public hearing on an appeal shall be served on the Commission or its Committees, the Commissioner, the applicant for the coastal zone permit and the aggrieved person, if they be different, any person who has requested in writing to be notified of such public hearing date, and any person who testified at the public hearing held by the appropriate Committee of the Commission to consider the original application.
(c) Public hearings. A public hearing on an appeal shall be held by the Board within sixty days after the appeal is filed with the Board, and a decision shall be rendered by the Board within thirty days after the conclusion of such public hearing. The Board shall notify the Commission or its Committee, the Commissioner, the applicant for the coastal zone permit and the aggrieved person, if they be different, of its decision by certified mail. Notice to all other persons who received notice of the public hearing on appeal may be by regular mail. Such notice shall be sent within four working days of the Board's decision.
(d) Actions of the Board. The Board, by majority vote of its authorized members, shall either affirm or reverse the Commission's or its appropriate Committee's or the Commissioner's action and shall either approve or deny an application for a coastal zone permit. If the Board grants an application for a coastal zone permit, the Board shall impose such reasonable terms and conditions on such permit as it deems necessary to achieve the objectives and purposes of this chapter. The Board shall set forth in writing and in detail the reasons for its decision and findings of fact upon which its decision is based. If the Board reverses a Committee's or the Commissioner's action on a coastal zone permit, it must make all of the findings required by section 910, subsection (a), paragraphs (2), (3) and (4) of this chapter. A copy of the Board's action shall be available for public inspection at the Board's offices during ordinary business hours. The Board's action shall be final after four working days following its decision.
