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Abstract
The zoning hearing examiner or hearing officer is a position created in local government to replace or supplement the traditional quasi-judicial decision-making roles of a planning commission or zoning board of appeals or adjustment. Typically trained as an attorney, city planner, or other design professional, and having significant relevant experience, the examiner conducts hearings on original applications for development permits and appeals of land use decisions, oversees the creation of a record, and makes written findings and conclusions. Sometimes the hearing examiner's actions will take the form of final decisions, such as those for a variance. Alternatively, the examiner may make recommendations on such topics as parcel-specific zoning map amendments or amendments to a comprehensive plan. In some jurisdictions, all of the hearing examiner's decisions are final; in others, they are recommendations to the planning commission, zoning board of appeals, or local legislative body.