[Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and ZBA Hearings
James Walsh
jimwalsh590 at gmail.com
Thu Mar 24 10:25:01 EDT 2022
Good morning,
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines PUBLISH as 1). to make generally
known or to make public announcement of; 2) to disseminate to the public,
to produce or release for distribution or to issue the work of (an author).
It would appear that this definition would cover the posting or publishing
online of legal ads for public hearings.
Since technology is changing rapidly and many communities are
facing a similar problem, could the Mass APA obtain a legal determination
from the Attorney General's Office or other appropriate legal authority?
Regards,
Jim Walsh
Consulting Planner
508-208-6217
og In
<https://www.merriam-webster.com/login>
On Thu, Mar 24, 2022 at 9:19 AM McKinnon, Anne via MassPlanners <
massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:
> Here's another view. We as a society believe that people should
> participate in matters of planning, zoning, infrastructure design, etc. We
> spend thousands of dollars holding meetings that 100 people on a good day
> attend. We send meeting notices to the select who have signed up and whom
> we've identified as stakeholders. A legal ad is like a belt with
> suspenders--maybe someone who's not in the "in crowd" sees it and learns
> that there is a proposal to do something on that lot and that's a good
> thing. Second, legal ads are a source of revenue for any paper, including
> the major dailies, and they need the money. The cost is not significant if
> you look at the big picture. It's the cost of doing business. Third, the
> Mass. Newspapers Publishers Assn. provides an invaluable service by posting
> on its website https://www.masspublishers.org/ public notices originally
> published in Massachusetts newspapers. The notices are available to be
> viewed for years.
>
> Anne McKinnon
> Jacobs
> 617-532-4234
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> On Behalf Of
> massplanners-request at masscptc.org
> Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2022 8:38 AM
> To: massplanners at masscptc.org
> Subject: [EXTERNAL] MassPlanners Digest, Vol 11, Issue 106
>
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and ZBA Hearings
> (Alison Manugian)
> 2. Re: Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and ZBA Hearings
> (John Charbonneau)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2022 12:32:34 +0000
> From: Alison Manugian <amanugian at dracutma.gov>
> To: 'Harry LaCortiglia' <hlacortiglia at comcast.net>,
> "'massplanners at masscptc.org'" <massplanners at masscptc.org>
> Subject: Re: [Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board
> and ZBA Hearings
> Message-ID:
> <
> BY3PR09MB87396BDFCD80D4B17A247323C4199 at BY3PR09MB8739.namprd09.prod.outlook.com
> >
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Unfortunately the MGL states for all that the notices must be in a printed
> newspaper of local circulation.
>
> Thank you,
> Alison
>
> Alison Manugian
> Community Development Director
> amanugian at dracutma.gov<mailto:amanugian at dracutma.gov>
> 978-453-4557
>
> From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> On Behalf Of Harry
> LaCortiglia via MassPlanners
> Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2022 8:06 AM
> To: massplanners at masscptc.org
> Subject: Re: [Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and
> ZBA Hearings
>
>
> [EXTERNAL] This message originated from outside the Town of Dracut. Use
> caution when opening attachments, clicking links or responding to requests
> for information.
>
> 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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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2022 08:38:06 -0400
> From: John Charbonneau <jcharbonneau at stoughton-ma.gov>
> To: Harry LaCortiglia <hlacortiglia at comcast.net>
> Cc: massplanners at masscptc.org
> Subject: Re: [Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board
> and ZBA Hearings
> Message-ID:
> <CAKEkATH-LDvAve4SHhGK15=
> 4mK3GK7OGY3aAWqU7bFX0n045ZA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Everyone,
>
> I don't think going to online legal ads would derogate from the law. Even
> with print newspapers, people can't get the papers unless they pay for them
> through delivery or at a store. So I don't see how online newspapers are
> any different. Our conservation commission recently had a legal ad cost
> them $1,400 to be published twice. That is outrageous. The law needs to
> catch up to what is happening and allow publication in online newspapers to
> satisfy the legal requirements.
>
> John
>
> *John M. Charbonneau*
> Town Planner
> 10 Pearl Street
> Stoughton, MA 02072
> (781) 341-1300 x9201
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 24, 2022 at 8:08 AM Harry LaCortiglia via MassPlanners <
> massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:
>
> > 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
> >
> > *Acta non verba*
> >
> >
> >
> > --
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> >
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