Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Notice Reform topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission recommends dropping newspaper publication rule after local paper folded
Summary
Midway staff proposed, and the planning commission recommended, code changes removing newspaper publication requirements for land-use notices after the Wasatch Wave ceased print; the recommended approach keeps mailed notices within 600 feet, postings and website notice, with social media left as optional outreach.
The Midway Planning Commission voted to recommend changes to several land-use notice provisions that currently require publication in a local newspaper, after the town’s Wasatch Wave stopped regular print publication.
Staff described the package as a cleanup of Chapter 16 noticing rules to keep the core protections for affected property owners — mailed notices within a 600-foot radius and physical posting in public places — while removing the now-impractical newspaper-publication requirement. "We lost the Wasatch Wave back in the summer," the staff member said, and the recommended changes remove the redundant newspaper language while keeping required mailed and posted notices and website publication.
Commissioners discussed alternatives such as social media outreach but agreed the city website and the state posting system are the most stable long-term methods of public notice. The commission also noted routine locations where notices are posted (community center, post office, gas-station boards), and staff reminded commissioners that property owners can sign up for website notifications.
A motion to recommend approval of the code-text amendments passed unanimously; staff said the recommended changes will be forwarded to City Council for adoption. The staff presentation identified affected code sections (16.22.040, 16.26.010 and 16.26.040) and recommended replacing some 1,000-foot mailing thresholds with the code’s standard 600-foot requirement where appropriate.
The commission left optional social-media posting as a possible outreach tool but did not make it a required form of legal notice.
