15A NCAC 07J .0702       STAFF REVIEW OF VARIANCE PETITIONS

(a)  The Division of Coastal Management, as staff to the Commission, shall review petitions to determine whether they are complete according to the requirements set forth in Rule .0701. Incomplete petitions and a description of the deficiencies shall be returned to the petitioner. Complete variance petitions shall be scheduled within two Commission meetings.

(b)  The staff and the petitioner shall determine the facts that are relevant to the Commission's consideration of the variance petition. For all facts upon which staff and the petitioner agree, a document entitled Stipulated Facts shall be prepared and signed by both parties.

(c)  After the facts agreed upon by the petitioner and staff, the staff shall prepare a written recommendation which shall be submitted to the Commission before the petition is considered. The staff recommendation shall include:

(1)           a description of the property in question;

(2)           a description of how the use of the property is restricted or otherwise affected by the applicable rules;

(3)           the Stipulated Facts;

(4)           staff's position on whether the petition meets or does not meet each of the requirements for a variance; and

(5)           petitioner's position on each of the variance criteria.

Copies of the staff recommendation shall be provided to the petitioner and the permit officer making the initial permit decision at the same time as it is provided to the Commission. If the Stipulated Facts are not agreed upon at least four weeks prior to a scheduled Coastal Resources Commission meeting, the variance petition shall be considered at the next scheduled Commission meeting.

(d)  If the staff determines that agreement cannot be reached on sufficient facts on which to base a variance decision, the petition shall be considered by means of an administrative hearing to determine the relevant facts.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 113A-120.1; 113A-124;

Eff. December 12, 1979;

Amended Eff. December 1, 1991; May 1, 1990; October 1, 1988; March 1, 1988;

Temporary Amendment Eff. December 20, 2001;

Temporary Amendment Expired October 12, 2002;

Temporary Amendment Eff. December 1, 2002;

Amended Eff. July 3, 2008; August 1, 2004;

Readopted Eff. October 1, 2022.