1. Legal notice of public hearing. No amendment shall be adopted by the City Council until after public notice and hearing. In accordance with N.C.G.S. 160D-601, notice of public hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Claremont at least once each week for two (2) successive weeks prior to the hearing. The first notice shall appear in the newspaper at least ten (10) days but not more than twenty-five (25) days prior to the hearing.
2. Mail notice requirements. In accordance with N.C.G.S. 160D-601, whenever the amendment involves a change in the zoning classification of a parcel of land, the owner of that parcel of land as shown on the county tax listing, and the owners of all parcels of land abutting or within one hundred (100) linear feet of that parcel of land as shown on the county tax listing, shall be mailed a notice of the proposed reclassification and a notice of the public hearing required in subsection 1. above. Such notice shall be sent by first class mail to the last address listed for such owners on the county tax listing. The person responsible for making the mailed notice shall certify to the City Council that such notice was indeed prepared and mailed.
3. Substitute notice.
a. In accordance with N.C.G.S. 160D-601 individual mailed notices may be waived in lieu of a substitute notice if the amendment meets at least one of the following criteria:
(1) If the zoning reclassification directly involves more than fifty (50) properties, owned by a total of at least fifty (50) different owners;
(2) If the proposal involves an amendment to the text of this chapter such that it changes the permitted, conditional, or accessory uses of a zoning district;
(3) If the city is adopting a water supply watershed protection program as required by N.C.G.S. 143-214.5.
b. Notice requirements for amendments meeting any of the three criteria of subsection 3(a) above are as follows:
(1) Notice of the public hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Claremont at least once each week for four (4) consecutive weeks prior to the hearing. The notice must include a map no less than one-half (½) the size of the newspaper page. The map must show the boundaries of the area affected by the proposed amendment;
(2) The city must post at least one (1) or more prominent signs immediately adjacent to the subject area. The signs must be of a type and size that may be reasonably expected to provide adequate notice of the proposal to the public;
(3) The city must notify by first class mail any property owner who resides outside the city’s zoning jurisdiction or outside the circulation area of the newspaper in which the notice is published. The notice must be mailed to the last address listed for such owners on the most recent county tax listing. (Ord. of 12-7-04, No. 37-02; Ord. of 8-7-06, No. 18-06; Ord. of 6-21-21, No. 41-21)