Chapter 185
2013 -- S 0320 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/11/13
A N A C T
RELATING TO
TOWNS AND CITIES - SUBDIVISION OF LAND - ZONING
ORDINANCES
Introduced By: Senator William A. Walaska
Date Introduced: February 13, 2013
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 45-23-53 of the General Laws in Chapter
45-23 entitled
"Subdivision of
Land" is hereby amended to read as follows:
45-23-53.
Local regulations -- Public hearing and notice requirements.
-- (a) No local
regulations shall be adopted, repealed, or amended until after a
public hearing has been held upon
the question before the city or town planning board. The
city or town planning board shall first
give notice of the public hearing by publication of notice
in a newspaper of general circulation
within the municipality 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 this hearing
opportunity shall be given to all persons interested on being
heard upon the matter of the
proposed regulations. Written notice, which may be a copy of
the newspaper notice, shall be
mailed to the statewide planning program of the
least two (2) weeks prior to the hearing. The newspaper
notice shall be published as a display
advertisement, using a type size at least as large as the normal
type size used by the newspaper in
its news articles, and shall:
(1) Specify the place
of the hearing and the date and time of its commencement;
(2) Indicate that
adoption, amendment or repeal of local regulations is under
consideration;
(3) Contain a statement
of the proposed amendments to the regulations that may be
printed once in its entirety, or may summarize or describe
the matter under consideration as long
as the intent and effect of the proposed regulation 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 notice 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) Notice of the
public hearing shall be sent by first class mail to the city or town
planning board of any municipality 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, located within two
thousand feet (2,000') of the municipal boundaries.
(c) 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 and/or surface
watershed that is used or is suitable for
use as a public water source located within either the
municipality or two thousand feet (2,000')
of the municipal boundaries; provided, that a map survey
has been filed with the building
inspector as specified in section 45-24-53(e).
(d) Notwithstanding
any of the requirements set forth in subsections (a) through (c)
above, 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 local regulations. Municipalities
shall annually provide public notice of existence of said
registry by a publication of notice in a
newspaper of general circulation within the municipality. 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 party” under
subdivision 45-24-31(4).
(d)(e) No
defect in the form of any notice under this section renders any regulations
invalid, unless the defect is found to be intentional or
misleading.
(e)(f) The
requirements in this section are to be construed as minimum requirements.
SECTION 2. Section 45-24-53 of the General Laws in Chapter
45-24 entitled "Zoning
Ordinances" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
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
general 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, which may be a copy of the newspaper notice, shall
be mailed to the statewide planning
program of the department of administration, and, where
applicable, to the parties specified in
subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this section, at least two
(2) weeks prior to the hearing. The
newspaper notice shall be published as a display advertisement,
using a type size at least as large
as the normal type size used by the newspaper in its
news articles, and 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
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, and 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 registered or certified 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.
(d) 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) Which 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.
(e) 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 and/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
which 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, which 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.
(f) Notwithstanding
any of the requirements set forth in subsections (a) through (e)
above, 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 party” under
subdivision 45-24-31(4).
(g)(f) 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.
(h)(g)
Costs of any notice required under this section shall be borne by the
applicant.
(i)(h) In granting a zoning ordinance amendment,
notwithstanding the provisions of
section 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 which 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.
(j)(i) The above requirements are to be construed as
minimum requirements.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01113/SUB A/2
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