160A-384. Method of procedure.

(a) The city council shall provide for the manner in which zoning regulations and restrictions and the boundaries of zoning districts shall be determined, established and enforced, and from time to time amended, supplemented or changed, in accordance with the provisions of this Article. The procedures adopted pursuant to this section shall provide that whenever there is a zoning map amendment, the owner of that parcel of land as shown on the county tax listing, and the owners of all parcels of land abutting that parcel of land as shown on the county tax listing, shall be mailed a notice of a public hearing on the proposed amendment by first class mail at the last addresses listed for such owners on the county tax abstracts. This notice must be deposited in the mail at least 10 but not more than 25 days prior to the date of the public hearing. Except for a city-initiated zoning map amendment, when an application is filed to request a zoning map amendment and that application is not made by the owner of the parcel of land to which the amendment would apply, the applicant shall certify to the city council that the owner of the parcel of land as shown on the county tax listing has received actual notice of the proposed amendment and a copy of the notice of public hearing. The person or persons required to provide notice shall certify to the city council that proper notice has been provided in fact, and such certificate shall be deemed conclusive in the absence of fraud.

(b) The first class mail notice required under subsection (a) of this section shall not be required if the zoning map amendment directly affects more than 50 properties, owned by a total of at least 50 different property owners, and the city elects to use the expanded published notice provided for in this subsection. In this instance, a city may elect to either make the mailed notice provided for in subsection (a) of this section or may as an alternative elect to publish notice of the hearing as required by G.S. 160A-364, but provided that each advertisement shall not be less than one-half of a newspaper page in size. The advertisement shall only be effective for property owners who reside in the area of general circulation of the newspaper which publishes the notice. Property owners who reside outside of the newspaper circulation area, according to the address listed on the most recent property tax listing for the affected property, shall be notified according to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section.

(b1) Actual notice of the proposed amendment and a copy of the notice of public hearing required under subsection (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 authorized pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 7502(f)(2), notice may be given by publication consistent with G.S. 1A-1, Rule 4(j1). This subsection applies only to an application to request a zoning map amendment where the application is not made by the owner of the parcel of land to which the amendment would apply. This subsection does not apply to a city-initiated zoning map amendment.

(c) When a zoning map amendment is proposed, the city shall prominently post a notice of the public hearing on the site proposed for rezoning or on an adjacent public street or highway right-of-way. When multiple parcels are included within a proposed zoning map amendment, a posting on each individual parcel is not required, but the city shall post sufficient notices to provide reasonable notice to interested persons.