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Article 2: Procedures Section 2.8: Zoning Atlas and Unified Development Ordinance Amendments Orange County, North Carolina – Unified Development Ordinance Page 2-30 Board 32 shall hear applications and receive public comment for Zoning Atlas amendments and/or text amendments to this Ordinance in a Quarterly Public Hearing. 2.8.7 Notice of Requirements for Planning Board Meetings and Public Hearings (A) The Planning Director shall provide notification of Planning Board meetings at which the Planning Board is to review and make a recommendation on Zoning Atlas amendments. Notifications shall be mailed and posted for the Planning Board meeting in the same manner as for the public hearing, as detailed in (C) and (D) below. The notice shall include the time and location of the Planning Board meeting.33 (B) The Planning Director shall cause notice Notice of the public hearing to review the application and receive public comment shall to be published at least twice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, stating the time and place of the hearing and the substance of the proposed amendment. (1) Said notice shall appear in said newspaper for two successive weeks with the first notice appearing not less than ten days nor more than 25 days before the date set for the public hearing. In computing the notice period, the day of publication is not to be included, but the day of the hearing is to be included.34 (C) In the case of For amendments to the zoning atlas Zoning Atlas, the Planning Director shall post on the affected property a notice of the public hearing at least ten days prior to the date of said hearing. (D) In the case of For amendments to the Zoning Atlas, written notice shall be sent by certified mail to the affected property owner and by first class mail to 35 all adjacent property owners at least 15 days, but not more than 25 days, before the public hearing date. Adjacent property owners are those whose names and addresses are currently listed in the Orange County tax records and whose property lies within 500 one thousand 36 feet of the affected property. (1) If amendments to the Zoning Atlas are proposed by the County, notice shall be sent by first class mail to all affected property owners and to all adjacent property owners within 500 feet as provided in (D) above.37 (E) The Planning Director shall certify the mailing of all notices to the Board of County Commissioners. 32 Since a quorum of Planning Board members will no longer be necessary to hold a public hearing, the public hearing would no longer be considered a joint hearing. 33 The Planning Board has stated that it would like the public to have notice of its meetings when it is considering amendments so the public can attend the meetings and provide comments if desired. This will result in two mailed notifications/sign postings for Zoning Atlas amendments in order to meet statutory requirements for public hearings (mailed/posted at least 10 days but not more than 25 days prior to the public hearing) 34 This paragraph has been indented one level to better reflect the cadence of ordinance structure. 35 State statutes do not require mailing via certified mail to adjacent property owners. Because of the proposed notification distance increase (from 500 feet to 1,000 feet), staff is suggesting that notices be mailed via first class mail in order to keep costs and necessary staff time lower. 36 As a result of comments made at the September 8, 2015 public hearing, the notification boundary is proposed to be expanded from 500 feet to 1,000 feet. 37 This paragraph is suggested for deletion because of the proposed modifications in (D) which will allow all notices (both applicant-initiated and government-initiated) to be sent via first class mail. If the modification in (D) is not adopted, the language in (D)(1) should not be deleted and the notification distance should be increased from 500 feet to 1,000 feet. 83