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Signal Mountain council seeks MTAS opinion on moving Board of Adjustment/Condemnation duties to administrative hearing officer
Summary
Council discussed removing seldom‑used local boards (Board of Adjustment and Condemnation/Appeals) from town code and vesting their casework with a single administrative hearing officer; council asked staff to obtain a formal opinion and confirm changes across the code and appeal paths to court before making code amendments.
The Signal Mountain Town Council discussed consolidating responsibilities of the Board of Adjustment/Appeals and the Condemnation Board under the town’s administrative hearing officer and asked staff to obtain formal guidance from MTAS (Municipal Technical Advisory Service) and related legal review before any code changes.
Council members said the two boards meet infrequently and that the administrative hearing officer already hears many building‑ and property‑maintenance cases. The discussion covered scope: building‑code and property‑maintenance appeals, condemnations, and whether an administrative hearing officer could issue an order that would otherwise come from a citizen panel. Council members asked staff to confirm that an administrative hearing officer’s rulings would be appealable to chancery/circuit court in the same way a board’s decision would be.
Council directed staff to seek MTAS training/opinion to (1) confirm whether the administrative hearing officer has statutory authority to hear the matters currently sitting with the two boards, (2) confirm that the hearing‑officer appeal pathway satisfies state law requirements, and (3) identify all places in the town code that reference the two boards so amendments can be applied consistently. Council members said they preferred a second opinion from MTAS before editing Title 2 and related code sections.
The council noted tradeoffs: a citizen panel offers a community deliberative check on condemnations, while a single hearing officer can streamline adjudication. Council members asked staff to return with MTAS guidance and recommended code edits before the council votes on any permanent change of authority.
