[Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and ZBA Hearings

[Harry LaCortiglia]

$1400 is the going rate around here...

It's almost as much as a full tank of gas....

Happy Friday,
H. LaCortiglia
Georgetown P.B. and CPC


On 3/24/2022 8:38 AM, John Charbonneau wrote:
> 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 <mailto:kjohnson at townofhudson.org>
>>
>>     /Acta non verba///
>>
>>
>     -- 
>     MassPlanners mailing list
>     MassPlanners at masscptc.org
>     http://masscptc.org/mailman/listinfo/massplanners_masscptc.org
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://masscptc.org/pipermail/massplanners_masscptc.org/attachments/20220325/adaad116/attachment.htm>