§ 16.70.010.4. Supplemental notice.

A.

Notice requirements. The City Council, Development Review Commission, and Community Planning and Preservation Commission shall provide the supplemental notice set forth in this section for public hearings. For those applications which the POD has the authority to review and approve and which are made appealable to a board or commission of the City or City Council, the POD shall comply with the written and posted supplemental notice requirements set forth in this section. For applications for which an appeal may only be made by the property owner, such notice shall only be required to be made to the property owner.

Such supplemental notice shall only apply to decisions of the POD which are made concerning a written request or application for which the applicant has paid a fee and for which the POD gives a written approval or denial.

B.

Notification. No notice other than the notice required by Florida Statutes shall be required; however, the City Council recognizes the importance of community involvement in many proceedings for which notice is not required by Florida Statutes (see development agreement section for other notice requirements). In an attempt to facilitate such involvement, and to provide courtesy notification of such proceedings to property owners and residents in affected neighborhoods and to other interested parties, it is the intent of the City Council to provide the following supplemental notice. This notice is directory and not mandatory. The failure to provide any supplemental notice shall not invalidate any action by the Mayor, or the POD, any boards or commissions of the City or City Council nor shall it create any right in any person to receive such supplemental notice.

1.

Written notice. Notice shall be mailed by the applicant to the owners of property as listed by the county property appraiser's office, any portion of which is within 200 feet of any portion of the subject property measured by a straight line, property line to property line. For applications to vacate rights-of-way, easements, and walkways, mailed notice shall also include all property owners within the blocks abutting the requested vacation and property owners within 200 feet of such blocks.

a.

A body of water, right-of-way, or publicly owned land located within the 200 feet notification distance, shall be excluded from the calculation of the 200 feet measurement unless the body of water, right-of-way, or publicly owned land cumulatively exceeds 400 feet, measured along a straight line from the property line of the subject property to any other property which is not a body of water, right-of-way, or publicly owned land, in which case the body of water, right-of-way, and publicly owned land shall be included in the measurement of the 200 feet distance.

b.

Any request to receive notice by any person not an owner of property as described above must be in writing, must specifically identify the notices the person wishes to receive, must be delivered to the POD, and must contain a mailing address.

Such requests, when not related to a specific application, shall only be valid for the specifically identified notices for not more than one year after receipt by the POD and may be renewed on an annual basis.

c.

The applicant shall obtain from the POD a copy of the notice and the procedures for notification of property owners who must receive notice. For the purposes of this chapter, the term, the "applicant," shall also include the appellant in an appeal.

d.

Not less than ten days prior to the date of the scheduled public hearing, the applicant shall deliver or mail a copy of said notice to all persons listed on the notification list and the owners of property within the distance described in this section. Notice shall be either delivered or mailed by U.S. mail with a U.S. postal service certificate of mailing returned to the City. If said notice is hand delivered to persons on the notification list, the receipt therefor shall be acknowledged by the signature of the person on the notification list and the applicant shall file a sworn statement thereof in a form acceptable to the POD. If said notice is hand delivered to a property, the applicant shall file a sworn statement thereof in a form acceptable to the POD.

e.

The applicant shall file proof that the notices were mailed or delivered with the POD not less than seven days prior to the date of the scheduled public hearing or the POD decision.

f.

For property in condominium or cooperative ownership which falls within 200 feet, only the association shall be notified if the current or proposed use of the property which is the subject of the application is a single-family, duplex, or triplex residential use. If the current or proposed use of the property is any other use, then the owner of each unit in the structure shall be provided notice, in addition to the association.

2.

Published notice. Notice of the public hearing shall be published by the applicant in a newspaper of general circulation in the City at least ten days prior to the public hearing. Published notice shall only be required for public hearings concerning special exceptions and site plans. There are additional State law requirements for ordinances. The applicant shall file an affidavit of publication provided by the newspaper with the POD not less than seven days prior to the date of the scheduled public hearing or the POD decision.

3.

Posted notice. Notice of the public hearing shall be posted on the subject property by the applicant at least ten days prior to the public hearing. Posted notice is not required for rezoning or land use plan changes.

4.

Identify the property. The written, published and posted notices shall identify the property upon which the request for action is made, the date and location of the public hearing, the phone number and address where information regarding the proposal can be obtained, and the type of action requested (e.g., variance, lot line adjustment, site plan). The notice need not specify any details of the proposed request.

5.

Complete copy of application. One complete copy of each application to the Development Review Commission (DRC) and Community Planning and Preservation Commission (CPPC) shall be provided by the applicant to the neighborhood and business association representatives listed by the POD. The term, "complete" includes one copy of the information required and any additional information (including studies) required by the POD to review the request. The application shall be either delivered or mailed by U.S. mail with a U.S. Postal Service Certificate of Mailing returned to the POD. Proof that a copy of the application was mailed or delivered shall be delivered to the POD within seven days of application submittal. The POD shall not process the application until receipt of such proof of mail or delivery.

6.

Governmental notice.

a.

For rezoning, land use plan amendments and special exceptions, mailed notice shall be provided to the neighboring government for comment, where the subject property is located within one-fourth mile (1,320 linear feet) of a neighboring government. Mailed notice shall also be provided to the Pinellas County School Board for comment, where the subject property is located within one-fourth mile (1,320 linear feet) of a public educational facility.

b.

For variances and site plan reviews requiring CPPC or DRC approval, mailed notice shall be provided to the neighboring government for comment, where the subject property is located within one-fourth mile (1,320 linear feet) of a neighboring government.

c.

For the establishment or expansion of a community redevelopment area, community development block grant target area or historic preservation district, mailed notice shall be provided to the neighboring government for comment, where the subject area or district is located within one mile (5,280 linear feet) of a neighboring government. Mailed notice shall also be provided to the Pinellas County School Board for comment, where the subject property is located within one mile (5,280 linear feet) of a school.

C.

Failure to provide notice does not invalidate any action. Failure to provide any supplemental notice shall not invalidate any action by the Mayor or the POD, any boards or commissions of the City or City Council. If any supplemental notice as described herein is not provided for any hearing, the Mayor, POD, board or commission or City Council may take the following action:

1.

Failure of an appellant to provide any supplemental notice or failure to file proof of written or published notice as required shall result in the automatic dismissal of the appeal at the time the failure is discovered.

2.

If the POD is notified of or discovers a failure to provide supplemental notice before noon on the day before the public hearing, the POD may cancel the public hearing, reschedule the public hearing and require new notice to be given. The POD should only take this action if:

a.

It appears from the information provided that the holding of the hearing would work a substantial hardship on the person who did not receive notice;

b.

Such substantial hardship is different from the hardship the person would have suffered had he received the notice;

c.

Such hardship cannot be corrected or mitigated prior to the scheduled public hearing; and

d.

Rescheduling would not work a substantial hardship on other persons who received notice or the applicant.

Should the POD determine not to cancel the public hearing, the board, commission or City Council hearing the application may continue the public hearing to another day if it determines that circumstances warrant a continuance.

3.

If the POD is not notified of or does not discover a failure to provide supplemental notice until after the time set forth above then the POD shall not cancel the public hearing. The board, commission or City Council hearing the application may, at the public hearing, weigh the effect the failure to provide supplemental notice may have and may choose to continue the public hearing if circumstances so warrant.

4.

If the POD is not notified of or does not discover a failure to provide supplemental notice until after the public hearing has been held, then none of these actions shall be taken.

(Code 1992, § 16.70.010.4; Ord. No. 876-G, § 30, 2-21-2008; Ord. No. 893-G, § 33, 9-4-2008; Ord. No. 985-G, §§ 97—100, 7-15-2010; Ord. No. 100-H, § 14, 12-19-2013; Ord. No. 166-H, § 20, 5-21-2015; Ord. No. 157-H, § 6, 9-17-2015)