§ 160A-384. Method of procedure.
§ 160A‑384. Method ofprocedure.
(a) The city councilshall provide for the manner in which zoning regulations and restrictions andthe boundaries of zoning districts shall be determined, established andenforced, and from time to time amended, supplemented or changed, in accordancewith the provisions of this Article. The procedures adopted pursuant to thissection shall provide that whenever there is a zoning map amendment, the ownerof that parcel of land as shown on the county tax listing, and the owners ofall parcels of land abutting that parcel of land as shown on the county taxlisting, shall be mailed a notice of a public hearing on the proposed amendmentby first class mail at the last addresses listed for such owners on the countytax abstracts. This notice must be deposited in the mail at least 10 but notmore than 25 days prior to the date of the public hearing. Except for a city‑initiatedzoning map amendment, when an application is filed to request a zoning mapamendment and that application is not made by the owner of the parcel of landto which the amendment would apply, the applicant shall certify to the citycouncil that the owner of the parcel of land as shown on the county tax listinghas received actual notice of the proposed amendment and a copy of the noticeof public hearing. The person or persons required to provide notice shallcertify to the city council that proper notice has been provided in fact, andsuch certificate shall be deemed conclusive in the absence of fraud.
(b) The first classmail notice required under subsection (a) of this section shall not be requiredif the zoning map amendment directly affects more than 50 properties, owned bya total of at least 50 different property owners, and the city elects to usethe expanded published notice provided for in this subsection. In thisinstance, a city may elect to either make the mailed notice provided for insubsection (a) of this section or may as an alternative elect to publish noticeof the hearing as required by G.S. 160A‑364, but provided that eachadvertisement shall not be less than one‑half of a newspaper page insize. The advertisement shall only be effective for property owners who residein the area of general circulation of the newspaper which publishes the notice.Property owners who reside outside of the newspaper circulation area, accordingto the address listed on the most recent property tax listing for the affectedproperty, shall be notified according to the provisions of subsection (a) ofthis section.
(b1) Actual notice of theproposed amendment and a copy of the notice of public hearing required undersubsection (a) of this section shall be by any manner permitted under G.S. 1A‑1,Rule 4(j). If notice cannot with due diligence be achieved by personal delivery,registered or certified mail, or by a designated delivery service authorizedpursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 7502(f)(2), notice may be given by publicationconsistent with G.S. 1A‑1, Rule 4(j1). This subsection applies only to anapplication to request a zoning map amendment where the application is not madeby the owner of the parcel of land to which the amendment would apply. Thissubsection does not apply to a city‑initiated zoning map amendment.
(c) When a zoning mapamendment is proposed, the city shall prominently post a notice of the publichearing on the site proposed for rezoning or on an adjacent public street orhighway right‑of‑way. When multiple parcels are included within aproposed zoning map amendment, a posting on each individual parcel is not required,but the city shall post sufficient notices to provide reasonable notice tointerested persons. (1923, c. 250, s. 4; C.S., s. 2776(u); 1927, c. 90; 1971, c. 698, s.1; 1985, c. 595, s. 2; 1987, c. 807, s. 1; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 980, s.1; 1993, c. 469, s. 1; 1995, c. 546, s. 1; 2005‑418, s. 4(a); 2009‑178,s. 2.)