14.08.050 Post-removal hearing.
A. If demand is timely made, the owner or person entitled to possession of the vessel or property is entitled to an administrative hearing to determine whether there was a sufficient factual and legal basis for the action to impound, remove, or otherwise abate the item in question. To be entitled to such a hearing, a written demand must be filed with the port director:
1. Within five (5) workdays after you learned or reasonably should have learned that your vessel or property was impounded, removed, or otherwise abated; or
2. Within fifteen (15) workdays after the city mailed notice to the vessel/property owner of the action taken, whichever is earlier.
3. If you fail to make a timely request for a hearing you will lose all right to challenge the sufficiency of the basis for the action taken.
B. The hearing will be held within seven (7) calendar days after the filing of a written demand, not including Saturdays, Sundays and city holidays, unless the person demanding the hearing waives a speedy hearing.
C. The hearing officer shall not be bound by formal rules of evidence. A copy of the port director’s written determination that a public nuisance exists will constitute prima facie proof of a sufficient factual and legal basis for the action. The burden will be on the vessel owner to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that there was not sufficient factual or legal basis for impounding, removing, or otherwise abating the vessel or property.
D. At the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing officer shall prepare a written decision, including the reasons for the decision. A copy of such decision shall be provided to the person demanding the hearing and the owner of the vessel or property. The hearing officer’s decision in no way affects any criminal charges that may be pending. The decision of the hearing officer is final and may only be appealed to the Superior Court.
E. A determination by the hearing officer that there was not a sufficient factual or legal basis for the action taken will require the release of the vessel to the owner or other person entitled to possession without payment of the towing, storage, or the accrued charges, and will entitle the person to a refund or reimbursement by the city if the charges have already been paid. If the hearing officer determines there was a sufficient factual and legal basis for the action taken, the port director may proceed to dispose of the vessel by sale according to BMC 14.10.090 or the port director may destroy or otherwise dispose of the vessel or property without sale if they make a good faith determination that the value of the vessel or property does not exceed the costs of towing, storage, sale, and other harbor charges accrued against the vessel or property. [Ord. 17-11 § 2.]