(A) At the next term of the circuit court or in chambers upon ten days' notice to the parties, the resident presiding judge of the circuit court of the county must proceed to hear and pass upon the appeal on the certified record of the board proceedings. The findings of fact by the board of architectural review are final and conclusive on the hearing of the appeal, and the court may not take additional evidence. In the event the judge determines that the certified record is insufficient for review, the matter must be remanded to the board of architectural review for rehearing. In determining the questions presented by the appeal, the court must determine only whether the decision of the board is correct as a matter of law. In the event that the decision of the board is reversed by the circuit court, the board must be charged with the costs which must be paid by the governing authority which established the board of architectural review.
(B) When an appeal includes no issues triable of right by jury or when the parties consent, the appeal must be placed on the nonjury docket. A judge, upon request by any party, may in his discretion give the appeal precedence over other civil cases. Nothing in this subsection prohibits a property owner from subsequently electing to assert a pre-existing right to trial by jury of any issue beyond the subject matter jurisdiction of the board of architectural review, such as, but not limited to, a determination of the amount of damages due for an unconstitutional taking.
HISTORY: 1994 Act No. 355, Section 1; 2003 Act No. 39, Section 11, eff June 2, 2003.
Effect of Amendment
The 2003 amendment added subsection (B), designated the existing paragraph as subsection (A), and made nonsubstantive changes.