§ 45-24-53. Adoption — Notice and hearing requirements.
(a) No zoning ordinance shall be adopted, repealed, or amended until after a public hearing
has been held upon the question before the city or town council. The city or town
council shall first give notice of the public hearing by publication of notice in
a newspaper of local circulation within the city or town at least once each week for
three (3) 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 (2) 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 the 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 general amendment to an existing zoning ordinance includes changes
in an existing zoning map, public notice shall be given as required by subsection
(a) of this section.
(c) 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 or town. The notice shall be given by first-class mail
at least two (2) weeks prior to the hearing at which the text amendment is to be considered,
with the content required by subsection (a). If the city or town zoning ordinance
contains an existing merger clause to which the nonconforming lots would be subject,
the notice shall include reference to the merger clause and the impacts of common
ownership of 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.
(d) Where a proposed amendment to an existing ordinance includes a specific change in
a zoning district map, but does not affect districts generally, public notice shall
be given as required by subsection (a) of this section, with the additional requirements
that:
(1) Notice shall include a map showing the existing and proposed boundaries, zoning district
boundaries, existing streets and roads and their names, and city and town boundaries
where appropriate; and
(2) Written notice of the date, time, and place of the public hearing and the nature and
purpose of the hearing shall be sent to all owners of real property whose property
is located in or within not less than two hundred feet (200′) of the perimeter of
the area proposed for change, whether within the city or town or within an adjacent
city or town. Notice shall also be sent to any individual or entity holding a recorded
conservation or preservation restriction on the property that is the subject of the
amendment. The notice shall be sent by first-class mail to the last known address
of the owners, as shown on the current real estate tax assessment records of the city
or town in which the property is located; provided, for any notice sent by first-class
mail, the sender of the notice shall submit a notarized affidavit to attest to such
mailing.
(e) Notice of a public hearing shall be sent by first-class mail to the city or town council
of any city or town to which one or more of the following pertain:
(1) That is located in or within not less than two hundred feet (200′) of the boundary
of the area proposed for change; or
(2) Where there is a public or quasi-public water source, or private water source that
is used, or is suitable for use, as a public water source, within two thousand feet
(2,000′) of any real property that is the subject of a proposed zoning change, regardless
of municipal boundaries.
(f) Notice of a public hearing shall be sent to the governing body of any state or municipal
water department or agency, special water district, or private water company that
has riparian rights to a surface water resource or surface watershed that is used,
or is suitable for use, as a public water source and that is within two thousand feet
(2,000′) of any real property that is the subject of a proposed zoning change; provided,
that the governing body of any state or municipal water department or agency, special
water district, or private water company has filed with the building inspector in
the city or town a map survey, that shall be kept as a public record, showing areas
of surface water resources and/or watersheds and parcels of land within two thousand
feet (2,000′) thereof.
(g) Notwithstanding any of the requirements set forth in subsections (a) through (e),
each municipality shall establish and maintain a public notice registry allowing any
person or entity to register for electronic notice of any changes to the zoning ordinance.
The city or town shall provide public notice annually of the existence of the electronic
registry by publication of notice in a newspaper of general circulation within the
city or town. In addition, each municipality is hereby encouraged to provide public
notice of the existence of the public notice registry in all of its current and future
communications with the public, including, but not limited to, governmental websites,
electronic newsletters, public bulletins, press releases, and all other means the
municipality may use to impart information to the local community.
(1) Provided, however, notice pursuant to a public notice registry as per this section
does not alone qualify a person or entity on the public notice registry as an "aggrieved
partyâ€� under § 45-24-31.
(h) No defect in the form of any notice under this section shall render any ordinance
or amendment invalid, unless the defect is found to be intentional or misleading.
(i) Costs of newspaper and mailing notices required under this section shall be borne
by the applicant.
(j) In granting a zoning ordinance amendment, notwithstanding the provisions of § 45-24-37, the town or city council may limit the change to one of the permitted uses in the
zone to which the subject land is rezoned and impose limitations, conditions, and
restrictions, including, without limitation: (1) Requiring the petitioner to obtain
a permit or approval from any and all state or local governmental agencies or instrumentalities
having jurisdiction over the land and use that are the subject of the zoning change;
(2) Those relating to the effectiveness or continued effectiveness of the zoning change;
and/or (3) Those relating to the use of the land as it deems necessary. The responsible
town or city official shall cause the limitations and conditions so imposed to be
clearly noted on the zoning map and recorded in the land evidence records; provided,
that in the case of a conditional zone change, the limitations, restrictions, and
conditions shall not be noted on the zoning map until the zone change has become effective.
If the permitted use for which the land has been rezoned is abandoned or if the land
is not used for the requested purpose for a period of two (2) years or more after
the zone change becomes effective, the town or city council may, after a public hearing,
change the land to its original zoning use before the petition was filed. If any limitation,
condition, or restriction in an ordinance is held to be invalid by a court in any
action, that holding shall not cause the remainder of the ordinance to be invalid.
(k) The above requirements are to be construed as minimum requirements.