§ 4-6. 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 a conspicuous place on the subject property; and

(2) by first-class mail to each person who appears on the tax records of the City as an owner of the subject property.

(c) Contents of notice.

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) the address of the subject property.

(d) Timing of notice.

The notice must be posted and mailed at least 15 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 1 sign must be visible from each of the property's street frontages;

(2) 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;

(3) 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

(4) 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 an owner of the subject property, 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.