Carroll County Commissioners plan to hold a formal “public hearing” regarding the proposed zoning ordinance Monday morning at 9 a.m. They held two public information meetings in January and were visited by several residents who had concerns about the document in December meetings as well.

A formal published notice is required to notify residents of the public hearing per Indiana Code 5-3-1-2. That code states: “…notice shall be published one (1) time, at least ten (10) days before the date of the hearing or meeting.” In addition, the notice must be published in the newspaper in the same county as the legislative body maintains its office per IC 5-3-1-6.

Although notice was planned to be included in the Jan. 25 edition of the Comet, no notice was forwarded to the Comet for inclusion in that paper. A notice appears in today’s edition, which is three business days before the meeting.

IC 36-7-4-606 states that the legislative body has 90 days from the date the county’s area plan commission certifies the document to them to act on it. Failure by the commissioners to act within 90 days after certification, (f) “…the ordinance takes effect as if it had been adopted (as certified) 90 days after certification.”

When contacted Tuesday, Carroll County Commissioner’s President Pat Clawson said he plans “to go forth with the public hearing.” Clawson said he sought advice from both commissioners’ attorney Nick McLeland and APC attorney Cindy Harmon. Both advised that the county has met its legal obligations for the publication and the public hearing because advertisements for the public hearing were placed in neighboring county newspapers, the Lafayette Journal & Courier and Logansport Pharos Tribune.