ORD-1999-016 Proposed Zoning Atlas Amendment Z-3-9 Ernie McBroom

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30 Popular Government Spring 1993 http://ncinfo.iog,unc.edu/planning/pgsp93.htm similarly situated. . . .The very purpose of the public hearing was to guide the City Council in making changes in the original proposal consistent with the views reflected at the public hearing. This is exactly what was done."ji sl So, if in response to comments raised at the hearing the city council rezones less land than was requested or rezones it to a less intense category, a new hearing generally is not required. Occasionally lengthy legislative zoning hearings are recessed and continued at a subsequent meeting.In this situation no additional public notice is required. G.S. 153A-52 and 160A-81,the general provisions on public hearings, specifically allow hearings to be continued without further advertisement.r 19 Many zoning ordinances limit additional hearings after a decision is made on a rezoning proposal by establishing a minimum waiting period between consideration of rezoning proposals.A typical provision would be that once a rezoning petition has been considered for a particular parcel,no additional rezoning petitions will be considered for a set period,most frequently six or twelve months. These mandatory waiting periods have been upheld by the courts.r201 Evidentiary Hearings It is important to remember the purpose of evidentiary zoning hearings.Unlike legislative hearings,they are not designed to solicit broad public opinion about how the board should vote on the matter before it. Rather,they provide an opportunity for the board to gather the facts it needs to apply policies already set in the ordinance. Therefore, while the notice requirements are not as broad,the standards on gathering evidence are much more strict than they are for legislative hearings. Requirements for a Hearing Quasi-judicial zoning decisions arise in-those situations where the decision maker must investigate facts, draw conclusions from them,and exercise some element of discretion in applying standards that previously have been set in the zoning ordinance to a specific situation. This includes decisions on variances,special-and conditional-use permits, and appeals of administrative determinations. These decisions may be made by the governing board,the board of adjustment, or the planning board, depending upon how the individual zoning ordinance involved is structured. The courts have held that the constitutional requirements of due process mandate that all fair trial standards be observed when quasi judicial zoning decisions are made,no matter which local board is making the decision.This includes an evidentiary hearing with the right of the parties to offer evidence, cross-examine adverse witnesses,inspect documents,have sworn testimony,have the decision based only on evidence that is properly in the hearing record, and have'written findings of fact supported by competent, substantial,and material evidence.r2 1 Notice of Hearings The notice requirements for an evidentiary zoning hearing are narrower than those for a legislative rezoning hearing. The purpose of the notice for these evidentiary hearings is not to let the entire community know about a proposed policy being debated but to alert those most directly affected about an opportunity to present relevant facts to those who are applying a policy already set in the ordinance. This is true even though there may be broad public interest in the outcome of the decision. Still,the constitutional guarantees of due process must always be observed: the parties to the matter must be given reasonable notice of the hearing. Thus an individual mailed notice to the applicant and any affected party who has requested notice must be provided.It is also a good idea to provide individual mailed notice to adjacent property owners,even though it may not be legally required. F- Owever,the detailed newspaper notice and individual mailed-notice provisions in the zoning enabling statute do not apply to evidentiary hearings for quasi-judicial zoning decisions. Some local governments have voluntarily put these same requirements into their zoning ordinances for evidentiary hearings, and once in the ordinance those notice requirements are binding.