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Commission rejects proposal to drop Herald ad for CZIMs, approves cutting demolition‑permit ad window from 30 to 15 days
Summary
After public comment, the Planning Commission recommended keeping the Milton Herald legal‑organ requirement for Community Zoning Information Meetings (CZIM) but approved a separate change reducing public‑notice lead time for demolition permits from 30 days to 15 days.
The Planning Commission on March 26 considered proposed edits to the city’s public‑notice text and recommended two separate outcomes: staff should not eliminate the Milton Herald advertisement requirement for Community Zoning Information Meetings (CZIMs), and the commission endorsed reducing the required advertising lead time for demolition permits from 30 days to 15 days.
Community Development staff explained that the proposed change would drop the Herald ad requirement for CZIMs because staff found the Herald notices produced minimal public attendance while consuming budget and staff time; staff noted other notification methods (city website, social media, calendar) remain in use. During public comment Mary Cronk urged the commission to keep Herald notices in place and asked the city to gather data (for example, a sign‑in question asking how attendees learned about CZIMs) before removing the printed ad as a notification channel.
After discussion the commission voted to recommend rejection of the change to Article 12 (section 12.3.2.a) that would have removed the Herald requirement for CZIMs. Commissioners directed staff to continue using multiple notification channels and to explore data collection on how attendees learn about CZIMs.
Separately, staff proposed—and the commission recommended—shortening the advertising requirement for demolition permit public hearings before the Design Review Board from 30 days to 15 days. Staff said the 30‑day advertising requirement often causes schedule bottlenecks for applicants; commissioners and the public had no objection to the shorter notice window, and the commission’s recommendation on that change passed unanimously.
The Planning Commission’s decisions will be forwarded to the City Council for its review and final action. The commission’s vote preserved the Herald ad requirement for CZIMs and authorized the shorter demolition‑permit advertising requirement to move forward as a recommended text amendment.
