§ 3-6. Council action – Public notice and hearing.

(a) Hearing required.

The City Council may not place the bill on its second reading calendar until the Council committee to which the bill is assigned has conducted a public hearing at which parties in interest and the general public are afforded an opportunity to be heard on the bill.

(b) Notice required.

Notice of the hearing must be given as follows:

(1) by posting in conspicuous places, as the Department of Planning designates, within and around the following, as the case may be:

(i) the perimeter of the proposed new District; or

(ii) the perimeter of any area proposed to be added to or removed from an existing district; and

(2) by first-class mail to each person who appears on the tax records of the City as an owner of property within the following, as the case may be:

(i) the perimeter of the proposed new District; or

(ii) the perimeter of any area proposed to be added to or removed from an existing District.

The notice must include:

(1) the identifying number of the bill to be heard;

(2) the name and address of the person requesting the bill;

(3) the date, time, place, and purpose of the public hearing; and

(4) a drawing or description of the boundaries of the area affected by the proposed bill.

(d) Timing of notice.

The notice must be posted and mailed at least 30 days before the public hearing.

(e) Number and manner of posted notices.

The number of posted notices and the manner of their posting are as follows:

(1) at least 2 or more signs are required, as the Department of Planning designates;

(2) for a notice applicable only to an individual property, at least 1 sign must be visible from each of the property's street frontages;

(3) each sign must be posted at a prominent location, near the sidewalk or public right-of-way, so that it is visible to passing pedestrians and motorists;

(4) a window-mounted sign must be mounted inside the window glass and placed so that it is clearly visible to passing pedestrians and motorists; and

(5) each sign must be at least 3 feet by 4 feet in size.

(f) Responsibility for notice.

The notices required by this section are the responsibility of the following:

(1) for a bill requested by the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, the notices must be given by and at the expense of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore;

(2) for a bill requested by or on behalf of a property owner to include that property in or remove that property from an existing District, the notices must be given by and at the expense of the requester; and

(3) in all other cases, the notices must be given by and at the expense of the City Council.