§ 45-23-53. Local regulations — Public hearing and notice requirements.
(a) No local regulations shall be adopted, repealed, or amended until after a public hearing has been held upon the question before the city or town planning board. The city or town planning board shall first give notice of the public hearing by publication of notice in a newspaper of general circulation within the municipality at least once each week for three (3) successive weeks prior to the date of the hearing, which may include the week in which the hearing is to be held. At this hearing, opportunity shall be given to all persons interested on being heard upon the matter of the proposed regulations. The newspaper notice shall be published as a display advertisement, using a type size at least as large as the normal type size used by the newspaper in its news articles, and shall:
(1) Specify the place of the hearing and the date and time of its commencement;
(2) Indicate that adoption, amendment, or repeal of local regulations is under consideration;
(3) Contain a statement of the proposed amendments to the regulations that may be printed once in its entirety, or may summarize or describe the matter under consideration as long as the intent and effect of the proposed regulation is expressly written in that notice;
(4) Advise those interested where and when a copy of the matter under consideration may be obtained or examined and copied; and
(5) State that the proposals shown on the notice may be altered or amended prior to the close of the public hearing without further advertising as a result of further study or because of the views expressed at the public hearing. Any alteration or amendment must be presented for comment in the course of the hearing.
(b) Notice of the public hearing shall be sent by first-class mail to the city or town planning board of any municipality where there is a public or quasi-public water source, or private water source that is used, or is suitable for use, as a public water source, located within two thousand feet (2,000′) of the municipal boundaries.
(c) Notice of a public hearing shall be sent to the governing body of any state or municipal water department or agency, special water district, or private water company that has riparian rights to a surface water resource and/or surface watershed that is used, or is suitable for use, as a public water source, located within either the municipality or two thousand feet (2,000′) of the municipal boundaries; provided, that a map survey has been filed with the building inspector as specified in § 45-24-53(f).
(d) Notwithstanding any of the requirements set forth in subsections (a) through (c) above, each municipality shall establish and maintain a public notice registry allowing any person or entity to register for electronic notice of any changes to the local regulations. Municipalities shall annually provide public notice of the existence of the registry by a publication of notice in a newspaper of general circulation within the municipality. In addition, each municipality is hereby encouraged to provide public notice of the existence of the public notice registry in all of its current and future communications with the public, including, but not limited to, governmental websites, electronic newsletters, public bulletins, press releases, and all other means the municipality may use to impart information to the local community.
(1) Provided, however, notice pursuant to a public notice registry as per this section does not alone qualify a person or entity on the public notice registry as an “aggrieved party” under § 45-24-31(4).
(e) No defect in the form of any notice under this section renders any regulations invalid, unless the defect is found to be intentional or misleading.
(f) The requirements in this section are to be construed as minimum requirements.
History of Section.P.L. 1992, ch. 385, § 1; P.L. 1999, ch. 57, § 2; P.L. 2013, ch. 185, § 1; P.L. 2013, ch. 235, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 528, § 70; P.L. 2019, ch. 191, § 2; P.L. 2019, ch. 244, § 2.
Structure Rhode Island General Laws
Chapter 45-23 - Subdivision of Land
Section 45-23-1 - — 45-23-24. Repealed.
Section 45-23-26. - Requirement in all municipalities.
Section 45-23-27. - Applicability.
Section 45-23-28. - Continuation of ordinances — Supersession — Relation to other statutes.
Section 45-23-29. - Legislative findings and intent.
Section 45-23-32. - Definitions.
Section 45-23-33. - General provisions — Required contents of local regulations.
Section 45-23-34. - General provisions — Definitions.
Section 45-23-35. - General provisions — Pre-application meetings and concept review.
Section 45-23-37. - General provisions — Administrative subdivision.
Section 45-23-38. - General provisions — Minor land development and minor subdivision review.
Section 45-23-39. - General provisions — Major land development and major subdivision review stages.
Section 45-23-40. - General provisions — Major land development and major subdivision — Master plan.
Section 45-23-43. - General provisions — Major land development and major subdivision — Final plan.
Section 45-23-44. - General provisions — Physical design requirements.
Section 45-23-45. - General provisions — Public design and improvement standards.
Section 45-23-46. - General provisions — Construction and/or improvement guarantees.
Section 45-23-48. - Special provisions — Phasing of projects.
Section 45-23-49. - Special provisions — Land development projects.
Section 45-23-49.1. - Farmland residential compounds.
Section 45-23-50. - Special provisions — Development plan review.
Section 45-23-50.1. - Special provisions — Unified development review.
Section 45-23-51. - Local regulations — Authority to create and administer regulations.
Section 45-23-52. - Local regulations — Procedure for adoption and amendment.
Section 45-23-53. - Local regulations — Public hearing and notice requirements.
Section 45-23-54. - Local regulations — Publication and availability.
Section 45-23-55. - Administration — The administrative officer.
Section 45-23-56. - Administration — Technical review committee.
Section 45-23-57. - Administration — The board of appeal.
Section 45-23-58. - Administration — Administrative fees.
Section 45-23-59. - Administration — Violations and penalties.
Section 45-23-60. - Procedure — Required findings.
Section 45-23-62. - Procedure — Waivers — Modifications and reinstatement of plans.
Section 45-23-63.1. - Procedure — Tolling of expiration periods.
Section 45-23-64. - Procedure — Signing and recording of plats and plans.
Section 45-23-65. - Procedure — Changes to recorded plats and plans.
Section 45-23-66. - Appeals — Right of appeal.
Section 45-23-67. - Appeals — Process of appeal.
Section 45-23-68. - Appeals — Stay of proceedings.
Section 45-23-69. - Appeals — Public hearing.
Section 45-23-70. - Appeals — Standards of review.
Section 45-23-71. - Appeals to the superior court.
Section 45-23-72. - Appeals to the superior court — Enactment of or amendment of local regulations.
Section 45-23-73. - Appeals to the superior court — Priority in judicial proceedings.