Notice and hearing requirements—Effective January 1, 2024

• A. No zoning ordinance shall be adopted, repealed, or amended until after a public hearing has been held upon the question before the city council. The city council shall first give notice of the public hearing by publication of notice in a newspaper of local circulation within the city at least once each week for three successive weeks prior to the date of the hearing, which may include the week in which the hearing is to be held, at which hearing opportunity shall be given to all persons interested to be heard upon the matter of the proposed ordinance. Written notice shall be mailed to the parties specified in subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of this section, at least two weeks prior to the hearing. The same notice shall be posted in the town or city clerk's office and one other municipal building in the municipality and the municipality must make the notice accessible on their municipal home page of its website at least fourteen (14) days prior to the hearing. The notice shall:

  • 1. Specify the place of the hearing and the date and time of its commencement;

  • 2. Indicate that adoption, amendment, or repeal of a zoning ordinance is under consideration;

  • 3. Contain a statement of the proposed amendments to the ordinance that may be printed once in its entirety, or summarize and describe the matter under consideration as long as the intent and effect of the proposed ordinance is expressly written in that notice;

  • 4. Advise those interested where and when a copy of the matter under consideration may be obtained or examined and copied; and

  • 5. State that the proposals shown on the ordinance may be altered or amended prior to the close of the public hearing without further advertising, as a result of further study or because of the views expressed at the public hearing. Any alteration or amendment must be presented for comment in the course of the hearing.

• B. Where a proposed text amendment to an existing zoning ordinance would cause a conforming lot of record to become nonconforming by lot area or frontage, written notice shall be given to all owners of the real property as shown on the current real estate tax assessment records of the city. The notice shall be given by first-class mail at least two weeks prior to the hearing at which the text amendment is to be considered, with the content required by subsection (A). If the properties would be subject to the merger clause in Chapter 17.72, the notice shall include reference to the merger clause and the impacts of common ownership of substandard and nonconforming lots. For any notice sent by first-class mail, the sender of the notice shall submit a notarized affidavit to attest to such mailing.

• C. Costs of newspaper and mailing notices required under this section shall be borne by the applicant.

(Ord. No. 2023-42, § 1, 12-13-2023)