(a)

The town council shall fix the time and place of the public hearing giving consideration to the following notice requirements. The town clerk shall cause notice of the hearing to be published in a newspaper of local circulation within the Town of Narragansett at least once each week for three successive weeks before the hearing date, which may include the week in which the hearing is to be held at which hearing opportunity shall be given to all persons interested to be heard upon the matter of the proposed regulations. The same notice shall be posted in the town or city clerk's office and one other municipal building in the municipality and the municipality must make the notice accessible on their municipal home page of its website at least 14 days prior to the hearing. The written notice, which may be a copy of the newspaper notice, shall be mailed to the associate director of the division of planning of the Rhode Island Department of Administration, and, where applicable, to the parties specified in sections 22.1(b)—(f), at least two weeks prior to the hearing. The notice shall:

(1)

Specify the place of the hearing and the date and time of its commencement;

(2)

Indicate that adoption, amendment, or repeal of a zoning ordinance is under consideration;

(3)

Contain a statement of the proposed amendments to the ordinance that may be printed once in its entirety, or summarize and describe the matter under consideration as long as the intent and effect of the proposed ordinance 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 thereon 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)

Where a proposed general amendment to the existing zoning ordinance includes changes in an existing zoning map, public notice shall be given as required by subsection (a) of this section.

(c)

Where a proposed text amendment to the existing zoning ordinance would cause a conforming lot of record to become nonconforming by lot area or frontage, written notice shall be given to all owners of the real property as shown on Narragansett's current real estate tax assessment records. The notice shall be given by first-class mail at least two (2) weeks prior to the hearing at which the text amendment is to be considered, with the content required by subsection (a). The notice shall include reference to the merger section of this ordinance and the impacts of common ownership of nonconforming lots. For any notice sent by first-class mail, the sender of the notice shall submit a notarized affidavit to attest to such mailing.

(d)

Where a proposed amendment to an existing ordinance includes a specific change in a zoning district map, but does not affect districts generally, public notice shall be given as required by subsection (a) of this section, with the additional requirements that:

(1)

Notice shall include a map showing the existing and proposed boundaries, zoning district boundaries, and existing streets and roads and their names, and city and town boundaries where appropriate; and

(2)

Written notice of the date, time, and place of the public hearing and the nature and purpose thereof shall be sent to all owners of real property whose property is located in or within not less than 200 feet of the perimeter of the area proposed for change, whether within the city or town or within an adjacent city or town. Notice shall also be sent to any individual or entity holding a recorded conservation or preservation restriction on the property that is the subject of the amendment. The notice shall be sent by, first-class mail to the last known address of the owners, as shown on the current real estate tax assessment records of the city or town in which the property is located; provided, for any notice sent by first-class mail, the sender shall submit a notarized affidavit to attest to such mailing.

(e)

Notice of a public hearing shall be sent by first class mail to the city or town council of any city or town to which one or more of the following pertain:

(1)

Which is located in or within not less than 200 feet of the boundary of the area proposed for change; or

(2)

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, within 2,000 feet of any real property that is the subject of a proposed zoning change, regardless of municipal boundaries.

(f)

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 and that is within 2,000 feet of any real property which is the subject of a proposed zoning change, provided, however, that the governing body of any state or municipal water department or agency, special water district, or private water company has filed with the building inspector in the city or town a map survey, which shall be kept as a public record, showing areas of surface water resources and/or watersheds and parcels of land within 2,000 feet thereof.

(g)

No defect in the form of any notice under this section shall render any ordinance or amendment invalid, unless the defect is found to be intentional or misleading.

(h)

Costs of newspaper and mailings notices required under this section shall be borne by the applicant.

(i)

In granting a zoning ordinance amendment, notwithstanding the provisions of section 6 of this ordinance, the town council may limit the change to one of the permitted uses in the zone to which the subject land is rezoned, and impose such limitations, conditions, and restrictions, including, without limitation:

(1)

Requiring the petitioner to obtain a permit or approval from any and all state or local governmental agencies or instrumentalities having jurisdiction over the land and use which are the subject of the zoning change;

(2)

Those relating to the effectiveness or continued effectiveness of the zoning change; and/or

(3)

Those relating to the use of the land; as it deems necessary.

The responsible town or city official shall cause the limitations and conditions so imposed to be clearly noted on the zoning map and recorded in the land evidence records, provided, however, in the case of a conditional zone change, the limitations, restrictions, and conditions shall not be noted on the zoning map until the zone change has become effective. If the permitted use for which the land has been rezoned is abandoned or if the land is not used for the requested purpose for a period of two years or more after the zone change becomes effective, the town or city council may, after a public hearing as hereinbefore set forth, change the land to its original zoning use before the petition was filed. If any limitation, condition, or restriction in an ordinance is held to be invalid by a court in any action, that holding shall not cause the remainder of the ordinance to be invalid.

(j)

The above requirements are to be construed as minimum requirements.

Where a person, group, or corporation initiates the proposed amendment by petition, the planning division shall charge the petitioner the publication and mailing costs.

All interested persons shall have an opportunity to appear and be heard at the hearing.

Following the hearing, the town council shall act on the amendment by ordinance, fully setting forth the grounds for its decision. If the council finds that the proposed amendment conforms with the stated purposes of this ordinance and with the town comprehensive plan, it may adopt the amendment. If it finds that the proposed amendment conflicts with the stated purposes of this ordinance or with the town comprehensive plan, it shall reject the amendment.

(Ch. 1050, § 4, 4-16-2018; Ch. 1117, § 15, 12-18-2023)

For a period of 60 days following the date of any town council resolution authorizing a public hearing on a proposed amendment to this ordinance, no building or structure shall be erected, enlarged, or altered, and no building permit or certificate of occupancy shall be issued for any building or land use, if the construction or use would be contrary to the provisions of the proposed amendment, except those applications which are vested pursuant to section 14 of this ordinance.