Committee reviews ordinance to expand mailed public notices and update sign-posting rules

Councilman Toole and Councilwoman Durham sponsored Ordinance 25,018 to expand public-notice procedures. David Culver, General Manager of the Department of Land Use, described the proposal as an effort to provide "greater notification" by increasing mailed public-hearing notice from 10 to 14 days, requiring sign updates when a posting or plan changes, and updating online postings.

Culver said the change will carry a marginal postage cost but that in many parts of the county staff already notify the same number of property owners. He also said code-enforcement officers will renew efforts this summer to cite or remove yellow posting signs when a project is expired, withdrawn, or recorded, and noted developers have sometimes been "lax" in removing those signs.

Pro Tem Rollins asked how frequently staff could ensure signs were dated and removed when proposals did not come to fruition; Culver responded that mailed notices are only generated for public hearings and that yellow signs are meant to remain for the life of a land development plan until its status changes. Public commenter Lisa Rice thanked the committee for expanding notice but asked that any changes not limit public comment.

No committee vote on the ordinance is recorded in the transcript; sponsors acknowledged the policy aims to improve transparency and the item will return in the legislative process.