[Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and ZBA Hearings

[Richard McCarthy]

Eric,



Welcome to MA.  I suspect the newspapers lobbyists will do the same here if
we tried.  I completely agree the time came long ago.



Best,





Richard J. McCarthy, Jr.

Town Planner

1 Liberty Lane

Norfolk, MA 02056

508-440-2807

Office Hours- Monday through Thursday 9am to 6pm

Closed Fridays



*As a reminder, please do not reply all to this email. If you have any
questions or comments, email me directly. *



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sent by or received by municipal employees is a public record.*

















*From:* MassPlanners [mailto:massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org] *On Behalf
Of *Eric Rumsey via MassPlanners
*Sent:* Wednesday, March 23, 2022 11:13 AM
*To:* Joseph Laydon; Kristina Johnson; massplanners at masscptc.org
*Subject:* Re: [Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and
ZBA Hearings



A few years ago (when I worked for a municipality in CT), we asked everyone
who participated in our public hearings how they had heard about the
hearing.  There wasn’t a single person who had seen the legal notice in the
paper.  CCAPA, CAZEO (Connecticut Association of Zoning Enforcement
Officers), and others lobbied for a change to the statutes to allow posting
on websites, etc.  Sadly, the newspaper lobbyists have/had deeper pockets
so no change was made.



Hopefully here in Massachusetts will have better luck.



*Eric Rumsey*

Town Planner & Conservation Agent

*Economic Development and Planning Department*

*Town of Southbridge*

41 Elm Street | Southbridge, MA 01550

p: 508.764.5402

e: erumsey at southbridgemass.org

w: ci.southbridge.ma.us



*From:* MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> *On Behalf Of *Joseph
Laydon via MassPlanners
*Sent:* Wednesday, March 23, 2022 10:56 AM
*To:* Kristina Johnson <kjohnson at townofhudson.org>;
massplanners at masscptc.org
*Subject:* Re: [Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and
ZBA Hearings



Kristina,



You forgot one important point; these consolidated media entities can’t
figure out billing.  So not only are the costs high, but we are constantly
calling to straighten out billing issues.



We may be at a tipping point where planners and towns start asking our
legislatures to remove the newspaper requirements and to rely on posting on
town websites.  Even moving from planning to administration, I continue to
be frustrated by the changing costs and billing errors.



Joe



_________________________________

Joseph Laydon

Town of Littleton

Assistant Town Administrator

37 Shattuck Street

Littleton, MA 01460

jlaydon at littletonma.org

978-540-2460







*From:* MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> *On Behalf Of
*Kristina
Johnson via MassPlanners
*Sent:* Wednesday, March 23, 2022 10:44 AM
*To:* massplanners at masscptc.org
*Subject:* [Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and ZBA
Hearings





**THIS EMAIL WAS SENT BY AN EXTERNAL SENDER**

Hello Friends and Colleagues,



I am curious to know if any of you are having an issue with legal
advertisements, as many local and regional newspapers either being
consolidated by large corporate media entities,  have a completely online
presence, or have changed their billing policies. Both in Hudson and in
Framingham (where I serve on the PB), the regional newspaper, the MetroWest
Daily News is requiring “pre-payment” for all legal advertisements instead
of the traditional third-party billing method.  Thankfully in Hudson we
have another newspaper that publishes locally, although their deadlines
completely changed our submission deadlines for PB ZBA, as they only
publish once a week.  In Framingham, the only other local newspaper is 100%
online,  so Framingham will most likely have to raise fees for application
filings to cover the pre-payment in order to ensure the provisions of 40A
Section 11 are met. I should note that legal advertisements are not cheap!



What a headache!  Anyone else facing this issue?



Best,

Kristina













*Kristina Johnson, AICP*

Director of Planning & Community Development

Town of Hudson,  MA

President, Mass. Association of Planning Directors

Tel: 978-562-2989

Cell:  857-939-3427

Email: kjohnson at townofhudson.org

*Acta non verba*




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