Oklahoma Code § 62-859

§ 62-859.

Public hearings - Notice.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 62. Public Finance

A. Before the adoption of a project plan or subsequent

amendments thereto, the governing body must hold two

public hearings. The primary purpose of the first hearing

will be to provide information and to answer questions;

provided, such information shall include, but not be

limited to, an analysis of potential positive or negative

impacts which may result from the adoption of a project

plan. A representative of the city, town or county shall

present the city, town or county's proposed plan or

amendment thereto. The date of the second public

hearing shall be announced in the presence of the persons

in attendance at the hearing, but such date shall be more

than seven (7) days after the date of the first public

hearing. The purpose of the second public hearing shall

be to give any interested persons the opportunity to

express their views on the proposed plan or amendment

thereto.

B. Notice of the first public hearing shall be given once by

publication in a newspaper with circulation in the city, town or

county and published on any Internet website maintained by the

political subdivision. Any person, entity, or organization that has

registered with the city, town or county clerk of the political

subdivision shall also receive notice of such public hearing and a

copy of the analysis upon request of the proposed project plan

required in subsection A of this section. Such notices must be

published or mailed no later than fourteen (14) days before the date

of the public hearing. The notice shall include the following:

1. The time and place of the public hearing;

2. The boundaries of the proposed districts and proposed

project areas by legal description and by street location, if

possible, accompanied by a sketch clearly delineating the area in

detail as may be necessary to advise the reader of the particular

land proposed to be included;

3. A statement that the first public hearing shall be for

information and questions purposes only with persons being given the

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 62. Public Finance

opportunity to be heard at the second public hearing before any

votes are taken;

4. A description of the project plan or amendment thereto and a

location and time where the entire plan may be reviewed by any

interested party; and

5. Such other matters as the city, town or county may deem

appropriate.

C. Notice of the second public hearing may be included in the

notices provided for in subsection B of this section. Notice of the

second public hearing shall be published and mailed in the same

manner as the notices provided for in subsection B of this section

if:

1. Notice for both public hearings is not included in the

notice of the first public hearing;

2. The location, date or time of the second public hearing is

changed after the notices of the first hearing have been published

and mailed; or

3. The second public hearing is held more than fourteen (14)

days after the first public hearing.

D. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the

adoption of minor amendments as provided for in Section 858 of this

title.

E. The city, town or county clerk shall send the notices or

copies of the analysis required to be sent to registered persons,

entities, or organizations pursuant to subsection B of this section

by electronic mail or if no electronic mail address has been

provided by the registrant, by first-class mail. The city, town or

county clerk shall provide an affidavit declaring that all

registrants have been mailed the requisite notices or analyses. Any

technical irregularities in the form of the published or mailed

notices required by this section shall not result in the

invalidation of any ordinance enacted or amended subsequent thereto,

so long as the notices, as published and mailed, reasonably apprise

interested parties as to the subject matter of the hearings and

correctly describes the date, time and place of such hearings and

affidavits of publication and mailing shall constitute compliance

with the notice requirement of this section.

Added by Laws 1992, c. 342, § 10. Amended by Laws 2002, c. 476, §

2, emerg. eff. June 6, 2002; Laws 2003, c. 255, § 6, eff. Nov. 1,

2003; Laws 2015, c. 381, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2015.