[Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and ZBA Hearings

[Harry LaCortiglia]

Hi Everyone,

This is becoming a topic of concern for my community as well. Public 
Hearing Notice costs are rising with the near monopoly of the remaining 
newspapers that still serve the area.

Would it be adverse to law to advertise Notices only in a 100% on-line 
publication?

Not only would that save money, but it most likely would have the effect 
of increasing the distribution of the information. Subscriptions for 
paper versions of newspapers are falling every day, while more and more 
folks are reading their news on-line.

It almost leads one to question if the paper versions are truly any 
longer, "of general circulation".

Looking forward to the views of the Planning community!

H. LaCortiglia
Georgetown P.B. & CPC


On 3/23/2022 10:43 AM, Kristina Johnson via MassPlanners wrote:
>
> 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 <mailto:kjohnson at townofhudson.org>
>
> /Acta non verba///
>
>
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