Chapter 18.07 PUBLIC NOTICE REQUIREMENTS

Chapter 18.07
PUBLIC NOTICE REQUIREMENTS

Sections:

18.07.035 Notice of appeal hearings – Administrative enforcement.

18.07.010 Required public notice.

A. City Notice of Development Application – Issuance and Contents. The city zoning administrator shall provide a notice of development application to the public and the departments and agencies with jurisdiction as provided in this section. If the responsible official has made a determination of significance under Chapter 43.21C RCW concurrently with the notice of development application, the notice of development application shall be combined with the determination of significance and scoping notice. Nothing in this section prevents a determination of significance and scoping notice from being issued prior to the notice of development application. The notice shall include but not be limited to the following:

1. The name of the applicant.

2. Date of application.

3. The date of the notice of completeness.

4. The date of the notice of development application.

5. The location of the project, including legal description and common address or location.

6. A project description.

7. A list of the project permits included in the application and, if applicable, a list of any studies requested under RCW 36.70B.070 or 36.70B.090.

8. A list of any other requested approvals, actions, and/or required studies and the identification of other permits not included in the application, to the extent known by the city.

9. A public comment period not less than 14 days 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.

10. Identification of existing environmental documents and the location where such documents can be reviewed.

11. A city staff contact person and phone number.

12. The date, time, place and type of a public hearing if applicable and one has been scheduled.

13. A statement of the preliminary determination, if one has been made at the time of notice, of those development regulations that will be used for project mitigation and of consistency as provided in Chapter 18.08 SLMC.

14. A statement that the decision on the application will be made within 120 days of the date of the notice of completeness.

15. Any other information determined appropriate by the city, such as the city’s threshold determination, if complete at the time of issuance of the notice of application.

B. Time Frame for Issuance of Notice of Application.

1. The city shall issue a notice of development application within 14 days of issuing a notice of completeness under Chapter 18.05 SLMC.

2. If any open record pre-decision hearing is required for the requested development permit(s), the notice of development application shall be provided at least 15 days prior to the open-record hearing.

C. Published Notice. The notice of development application shall be published once in the city’s official newspaper.

D. Posting. Posting of property for site-specific developments shall consist of one or more notice boards as follows:

1. 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 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 city;

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.

2. 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;

c. The city determines that additional notice boards are necessary to provide adequate public notice.

3. Notice boards shall be:

a. Maintained in good condition by the applicant during the notice period;

b. In place at least 30 days prior to the date of the hearing, or at least 15 days prior to the end of any required comment period;

c. Removed within 15 days after the end of the notice period.

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

5. An affidavit of posting shall be submitted to the city 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. Any time required to ensure compliance with this requirement shall be excepted from the 120 days pursuant to SLMC 18.09.090.

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

E. Categorically/Exempt Projects. A notice of application shall not be required for development applications that are categorically exempt under Chapter 43.21C RCW unless a public comment period or an open record predecision hearing is required. (Ord. 1079 § 1, 2008).

18.07.020 Notice of public hearing.

Notice of a public hearing for all development applications and all closed-record appeals shall be given as follows:

A. Time of Notices. Except as otherwise required, public notification of meetings, hearings, and pending actions under SLMC Titles 14 through 17 shall be made by:

1. Publication at least 15 days before the date of a public meeting, hearing, or pending action in the city’s official newspaper; and

2. Mailing at least 15 days before the date of a public hearing, or pending action to all property owners as shown on the records of the county assessor and to all street addresses of properties within 500 feet, not including street rights-of-way, of the boundaries of the property which is the subject of the meeting or pending action. Addressed, pre-stamped envelopes shall be provided by the applicant.

B. Content of Notice. The public notice shall include a general description of the proposed project, type of permit(s) required, comment period dates, a nonlegal description of the property or a vicinity map or sketch, the time, date and place of the public hearing and the place where the complete application may be reviewed and where further information may be obtained.

C. Continuations. If, for any reason, a meeting or hearing on a pending action cannot be completed on the date set in the public notice, the meeting or hearing may be continued to a date certain and no further notice under this section is required.

D. General Procedure for Mailed Notice of Public Hearing. The city clerk shall issue a sworn certificate of mailing to all persons entitled to notice under this chapter. The city may choose to provide notice to other persons than those required to receive notice under the code. All public notices shall be deemed to have been provided or received on the date the notice is deposited in the mail or is personally received, whichever occurs first.

E. Cost of Public Hearing Notice. All costs associated with public notice shall be borne by the applicant.

F. Joint Hearings.

1. The city zoning administrator may combine any hearing on a project permit with any hearing that may be held by another local, state, regional, federal, or other agency, provided that the hearing is held within the geographic boundary of the city. Hearings shall be combined if requested by the applicant, as long as the joint hearing can be held within the time periods specified in SLMC 18.09.090 or the applicant agrees to the schedule in the event that additional time is needed in order to combine the hearings.

2. The city zoning administrator shall cooperate to the fullest extent possible with other agencies in holding a joint hearing if requested to do so, as long as:

a. The agency is not expressly prohibited by statute from doing so;

b. Sufficient notice of the hearing is given to meet each of the agencies’ adopted notice requirements as set forth in statute, ordinance, or rule; and

c. The agency has received the necessary information about the proposed project from the applicant to hold its hearing at the same time as the city’s hearing. (Ord. 1079 § 1, 2008).

18.07.030 Notice of appeal hearings.

In addition to the posting and publication requirements of SLMC 18.07.020, notice of appeal hearings shall be as follows:

A. For administrative approvals, notice shall be mailed to adjacent property owners.

B. For planning agency recommendations and decisions being appealed to the council, mailing to parties of record from the agency hearing.

C. For council decisions being appealed to the hearing examiner, mailing to parties of record from the council hearing. (Ord. 1079 § 1, 2008).

18.07.035 Notice of appeal hearings – Administrative enforcement.

Appeals of administrative enforcement actions pursuant to Chapter 1.30 SLMC shall be set for appeal hearings before the hearing examiner pursuant to the procedures of this section and not SLMC 18.07.030. Notice of appeal hearings of administrative enforcement actions shall be as follows:

A. The hearing before the hearing examiner shall be set within 90 days of the filing of the notice of appeal unless the hearing examiner, for good cause shown, extends that time for hearing.

B. The planner shall obtain available hearing dates from the hearing examiner and shall set a date for the appeal hearing within the time provided herein and shall mail such notice of hearing to the address provided by the appellant in the notice of appeal. The notice of hearing shall be mailed at least ten dates prior to the date of the hearing.

C. Prior to the hearing date, the planner shall provide to the hearing examiner copies of the notice of violation and order to correct or cease activity along with any report prepared by the enforcement official, the notice of appeal and any other materials submitted to the planner for use in the appeal hearing. Copies of such materials shall be provided to the city attorney and the appellant if they have not previously been provided as shown in the planner’s file. (Ord. 1079 § 1, 2008).

18.07.040 Notice of decision.

A written notice of all final decisions shall be sent to the applicant, all parties of record, and any person who, prior to the rendering of the decision, requested in writing notice of the decision. “Parties of record” shall mean those persons as defined in SLMC 18.11.030. For development applications requiring planning agency review and city council approval, the notice shall be the signed ordinance or resolution. (Ord. 1079 § 1, 2008).