WORKSHOP ITEM - Erik Thorvig, Community Development Director
Title
PUBLIC HEARING NOTIFICATION BOUNDARY REVIEW
Background
The topic of public notification for development items has been discussed over the last couple of years. This typically occurs on controversial items where residents at the podium have made the claim that they were not notified of the proceedings. As this has not be addressed between staff and council, staff would like to take this opportunity to discuss the topic, understand the concerns, and be provided with direction on where modifications could occur, if any.
The staff report will provide background information on the following:
1. Current requirements for public hearing notices and other efforts made by the city to notify residents of development items.
2. Community meetings hosted by developers.
3. Identifying the city’s role in the approval process.
Current Requirements for Public Hearing Notices
Minnesota State Statute 462.357 outlines the public hearing notification process for zoning items. It states “…notice shall be mailed at least ten days before the day of the hearing to each owner of affected property and property situated wholly or partly within 350 feet of the property.” This is the process Blaine has adopted in the local zoning ordinance. Cities can, by ordinance, increase the notification area however cannot decrease the notification area.
Some of the challenges staff has identified with increasing the notification are:
1. If a larger area is notified, residents further away are confused as to why they received the notice since the project does not affect them.
2. Regardless of the distance, there will always be people outside of the notification area that will wonder why they did not receive a notice.
3. Increased mailing costs. The city charges the applicant a fee of $32 to cover mailing costs. Increasing the boundaries would require an increase in the fee.
There are other methods the city uses to notify residents of development projects. These include:
1. Public hearing notices are published in the local newspaper and posted on the city webpage and Facebook page.
2. The public can subscribe on CivicPlus to receive public hearing notices via email or text messages.
3. Signs are placed on development properties identifying a proposed development and number to call. Current practice is to place these on properties that have a rezoning or plat request. This could be expanded for commercial/multi-family conditional use permit applications.
On occasion, homeowner associations have asked to be informed of proceedings related to a development project. The city does not have an accurate list of all HOA’s and their management companies, therefore, it would be difficult to inform HOAs during the initial notification. However, HOAs are often part of the public hearing mailing list because of common area property that is owned by the HOA.
Secondly, anyone wishing to speak on behalf of an HOA should provide documentation to the city that they have the authority to speak on behalf of the association.
The topic of increasing the notification area has been discussed by previous city councils and no changes were suggested. Staff would recommend leaving the notification distance at 350 feet, however modifying some of the city’s other methods of communicating to the public as mentioned above.
Community Meetings Hosted by Developers
Occasionally developers will host an open house with a neighborhood prior to going before the planning commission and city council. Recent examples of this include Hy-Vee and Cedar Point Apartments. These meetings provide the developer an opportunity to present a plan, respond to questions, and gather information on concerns that a neighborhood may have prior to a formal meeting. This may present an opportunity for the developer to amend the plan.
Typically, city staff do not attend these meetings nor are they hosted by the city. The city does not require community meetings. Staff will coach a developer if they believe a meeting would be beneficial, or if a developer requests hosting a meeting.
Identifying the City’s Role in the Approval Process
The city council has a range of approval discretion on certain application types. For example, the city council has full discretion on rezoning or comprehensive plan amendment requests, however have limited discretion on subdivisions or conditional use permits (see attachment).
For controversial projects, some residents will attend a public hearing in hopes of stopping a project, without understanding the discretion level the city council has. Staff suggests informing the planning commission, city council and attendees of the discretion level in the staff reports and presentations.
Recommendation
There is a lot of information to discuss related to communication with residents on development items. Staff would recommend discussing the public hearing notification topic in detail at the workshop. Secondly, staff would recommend briefly discussing the other items and have a more thorough discussion at the May retreat or a later workshop.