(a) Legal notice of public hearing. No amendment shall be adopted by the Town Council until after public notice and hearing. Under G.S. 160D-601, notice of public hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town at least once each week for two (2) successive weeks before the hearing. The first notice shall appear in the newspaper not less than ten (10) days or more than twenty-five (25) days before the scheduled date of the hearing. In computing, this notice period, the day of publication is not to count, but the day of the hearing shall be included.
(b) Mail notice requirements. Under G.S. 160D-602, 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 adjoining, even if separated by a street, railroad, or other transportation corridors, shall be mailed a notice of the proposed reclassification and a notice of the public hearing required in Section 9-3144. 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 Town Council that such notice was indeed prepared and mailed.
(c) Under G.S. 160D-602(c), whenever an amendment involves a change in the zoning classification of a parcel of land, the town shall prominently post a notice of the public hearing in the site proposed for rezoning or on an adjacent right-of-way. When multiple parcels are included within a proposed zoning map amendment, the town shall post sufficient notices to provide reasonable notice to interested persons.
(d) Substitute Notice.
(1) Under G.S. 160D-602(b), individual mailed notices may be waived instead of a substitute notice if the Zoning Map amendment involves more than fifty (50) properties owned by a total of at least fifty (50) different owners;
(2) The public hearing notice shall be published following G.S. 160D-60, provided the advertisement is no less than one-half a page;
(e) The town must notify by first-class mail any property owner who resides 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. Absent evidence to the contrary, the Town of Valdese may rely on the county tax records to determine who is a landowner. (Ord. of 1/10/05; Ord. of 6/26/06; Ord. of 12/6/10; Ord. of 6/28/21)