Chapter 19.03
NOTICE OF APPLICATION AND PUBLIC NOTICE

Sections:

19.03.001    Notice of application.

19.03.003    Notice of public hearing.

19.03.001 Notice of application.

A. Generally. A notice of application shall issue on all Type III, IVA and IVB project permit applications. The city shall provide a notice of application to the public, city departments and agencies with jurisdiction as described in this chapter. [RCW 36.70B.110.]

B. SEPA Exempt Projects. A notice of application shall not be required for project permits that are categorically exempt under SEPA, unless a public comment period or an open record predecision hearing is required. [RCW 36.70B.140(2).]

C. Contents. The notice of application shall include:

1. The date of application, the date of the notice of completion for the application and the date of the notice of application;

2. A description of the proposed project action and a list of the project permits included in the application and, if applicable, a list of any studies requested under RCW 36.70B.070;

3. The identification of other permits not included in the application, to the extent known by the city;

4. The identification of existing environmental documents that evaluate the proposed project, and, if not otherwise stated on the document providing notice of application, the location where the application and any studies can be reviewed. If the city has made a threshold determination or a determination of significance under Chapter 43.21C RCW before the notice of application is issued, the notice of application may include notice of the SEPA threshold determinations and scoping notices;

5. A statement of the limits of the public comment period, which shall be not less than 14 nor more than 30 days following the date of notice of application, and statements of the right of any person to comment on the application, receive notice of and participate in any hearings, request a copy of the decision once made, and any appeal rights;

6. The date, time, place and type of hearing, if applicable and scheduled at the date of notice of the application;

7. A statement of the preliminary determination of consistency, if one has been made at the time of notice, and of those development regulations that will be used for project mitigation and of consistency as provided in Chapter 19.04 CHMC;

8. Any other information determined appropriate by the city. [RCW 36.70B.110.]

D. Time Frame for Issuance of Notice of Application.

1. Within 14 days after the city has made a determination of completeness of a project permit application, the city shall issue a notice of application.

2. If any open record predecision hearing is required for the requested project permit(s), the notice of application shall be provided at least 15 days prior to the open record hearing. [RCW 36.70B.110.]

E. Public Comment on the Notice of Application. All public comments received on the notice of application must be received by the city clerk by 4:00 p.m. on the last day of the comment period. Comments may be mailed, personally delivered or sent by facsimile. Mailed comments received after expiration of the comment period will not be accepted. Comments should be as specific as possible.

F. Except for threshold determinations, the city may not issue a decision or recommendation on a project permit until the expiration of the public comment period on the notice of application. [RCW 36.70B.110.]

G. Methods of Providing Notice of Application.

1. The city may use different types of notice of the application for different categories of project permits or types of project actions. However, the city shall use at least one of the following methods of providing the notice of application for project permits: [RCW 36.70B.110(4).]

a. Posting. Posting of the property for site specific proposals shall consist of one or more notice boards as follows:

i. A single notice board shall be placed by the applicant:

(A) At the midpoint of the site street frontage or as otherwise directed by the city for maximum visibility;

(B) Five feet inside the street property line, except when the board is structurally attached to an existing building; provided, that no notice board shall be placed more than five feet from the street property without approval of the department;

(C) So that the top of the notice board is between seven to nine feet above grade; and

(D) Where it is completely visible to pedestrians.

ii. Additional notice boards may be required when:

(A) The site does not abut a public road;

(B) A large site abuts more than one public road; or

(C) The administrator determines that additional notice boards are necessary to provide adequate public notice.

iii. Notice boards shall be:

(A) Maintained in good condition by the applicant during the notice period;

(B) In place at least 15 days prior to the date of hearing, or 15 days prior to the end of any required comment period;

(C) Removed within 15 days after the end of the notice period.

iv. Removal of the notice board prior to the end of the notice period may be cause for discontinuance of the city’s review until the notice board is replaced and remains in place for the specified time period.

v. An affidavit of posting shall be submitted to the administrator by the applicant prior to the hearing or final comment date. If the affidavits are not filed as required, any scheduled hearing or date by which the public may comment on the application will be postponed in order to allow compliance with this notice requirement.

vi. Notice boards shall be constructed and installed in accordance with specifications promulgated by the city.

b. Published Notice. Published notice shall include at least the project location, description, type of permit(s) required, comment period dates, and location where the complete application may be reviewed, published in the city’s official newspaper of general circulation in the general area where the proposal is located.

2. Preliminary Plats.

a. Notice of the filing of a preliminary plat adjacent to or within one mile of the municipal boundaries of a city or town, or which contemplates the use of any city or town utilities shall be given to the appropriate city or town authorities.

b. Notice of the filing of a preliminary plat of a proposed subdivision located in a city or town and adjoining the municipal boundaries thereof shall be given to the appropriate county officials.

c. Notice of the filing of a preliminary plat of a proposed subdivision located adjacent to the right-of-way of a state highway or within two miles of the boundary of a state or municipal airport shall be given to the Secretary of Transportation, who must respond within 15 days of such notice. (Ord. 986 § 3, 2022; Ord. 789 § 1, 1998; Ord. 766 § 3, 1997; Ord. 738 § 1, 1996)

19.03.003 Notice of public hearing.

If the public hearing on the project permit application was not scheduled at the time of issuance of the notice of application, or if the public hearing has been rescheduled or continued, a separate notice of public hearing shall be issued by the city according to the procedures in this section.

A. Content of Notice of Public Hearing for all Types of Applications. The notice given of a public hearing required in this section shall contain:

1. The name and address of the applicant or the applicant’s representative;

2. Description of the affected property, which may be in the form of either a vicinity location or written description, other than a legal description;

3. The date, time and place of the hearing;

4. A description of the subject property reasonably sufficient to inform the public of its location, including but not limited to the use of a map or postal address and a subdivision lot and block designation;

5. The nature of the proposed use or development;

6. A statement that all interested persons may appear and provide testimony;

7. The sections of the code that are pertinent to the hearing procedure;

8. When information may be examined, and when and how written comments addressing findings required for a decision by the hearing body may be admitted;

9. The name of the city representative to contact and the telephone number where additional information may be obtained;

10. That a copy of the application, all documents and evidence relied upon by the applicant and applicable criteria are available for inspection or copying at the cost of the requestor;

11. That a copy of the staff report will be available for inspection at no cost at least seven days prior to the hearing and copies will be provided at the requestor’s cost.

B. Mailed Notice. Mailed notice of the public hearing shall be provided as follows:

1. Type I, Type II, and Type V Actions. No public notice is required because no public hearing is held, except on an appeal of a Type II action.

2. Type III, IVA and IVB Actions. The notice of public hearing shall be mailed to:

a. The applicant;

b. All owners of property within 300 feet of the subject property;

c. Any person who submits written or oral comments on an application.

3. Type III Preliminary Plat Actions. In addition to the notice in subsection (B)(2) of this section, additional notice shall be provided for preliminary plats as follows:

a. Notice shall be published not less than 10 days prior to the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation within the county and a newspaper of general circulation in the area where the real property which is proposed to be subdivided is located; and

b. Special notice of the hearing shall be given to adjacent landowners by any other reasonable method the city deems necessary. Adjacent landowners are the owners of real property, as shown by the records of the county assessor, located within 300 feet of any portion of the boundary of the proposed subdivision. If the owner of the real property which is proposed to be subdivided owns another parcel or parcels of real property which lie adjacent to the real property proposed to be subdivided, notice required by this section shall be given to owners of real property located within 300 feet of any portion of the boundaries of such adjacently located parcels of real property owned by the owner of the real property proposed to be subdivided. [RCW 58.17.090.]

4. Type V Actions. For Type V legislative actions, the city shall publish notice as described in subsection (C)(2) of this section, and provide any other notice required by the Planning Enabling Act.

5. General Procedure for Mailed Notice of Public Hearing.

a. The records of the King County department of records and elections shall be used for determining the property owner of record. Addresses for a mailed notice required by this code shall be obtained from the King County real property tax records. The administrator shall issue a sworn certificate of mailing to all persons entitled to notice under this chapter. The administrator may provide notice to other persons than those required to receive notice under this code.

b. All public notices shall be deemed to have been provided or received on the date the notice is deposited in the mail or personally delivered, whichever occurs first.

C. Procedure for Posted or Published Notice of Public Hearing.

1. Posted notice of the public hearing is required for all Type III, IVA and IVB project permit applications. The posted notice shall be posted as required by CHMC 19.03.001 (G)(1)(a).

2. Published notice is required for all Type III, IVA, IVB and V procedures. The published notice shall be published in the city’s official newspaper.

D. Time and Cost of Notice of Public Hearing.

1. Notice shall be mailed, posted and first published not less than 10 nor more than 30 days prior to the hearing date. Any posted notice shall be removed by the applicant within 15 days following the public hearing.

2. All costs associated with the public notice shall be borne by the applicant. (Ord. 738 § 1, 1996)