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1. Why did I receive written notice of a neighborhood meeting?

Prior to most zoning actions, the applicant must hold a neighborhood meeting before submitting a formal application to the city for the following actions:

• Rezoning a property


• Preliminary platting


• Conditional use request


• Or a state or municipally owned and operated public facility approval

2. Who must the applicant notify for the neighborhood meeting?

Applicants must mail written notice to the surrounding owners of record of any property located within 200 feet of the subject site if located in the city, and 1,000 feet if in the unincorporated county. Applicants must also mail written notice to any neighborhood association, homeowners’ association, and business association registered with the City Manager’s Office, whose boundaries are located within or immediately adjacent thereto.

In addition to this written notice, the city sends out email notification of the applicant’s neighborhood meeting via the In Touch email notification system to all individuals who have subscribed through the city’s website.

3. Why must applicants hold their own neighborhood meeting?

Neighborhood meetings are required for two reasons. First, they provide early public notice to surrounding property owners of a potential zoning application being made to the city. More importantly, they provide an early opportunity for owners and residents in the area, or any interested resident, to learn about the proposal from the applicant, to ask questions, and to identify and discuss issues, so that early dialogue is initiated between the applicant and the neighborhood in an effort to better address and mitigate issues or concerns, before the application is submitted to the city.

4. Who can/should attend the neighborhood meeting?

Anyone who has an interest in the neighborhood or in actions that may occur in that area of the city should attend the meeting.

5. What if I can’t attend the neighborhood meeting?

The applicant’s and/or their consultant’s contact information is provided in both the mailed written notice and the In Touch email notification so that you can contact the applicant or their consultant with questions or concerns about the proposed project. The neighborhood meeting is just the first opportunity for you to get involved. You can also attend the public hearing and/or write a letter or email to the Community Development Department, 1101 Poyntz Ave., Manhattan, KS 66502.

6. What happens after the neighborhood meeting?

Following the neighborhood meeting, the applicant finalizes and submits their application to the Community Development Department at least 45 days prior to the public hearing date, to begin the application review process. Community Development then reviews the application and, if complete, distributes it to other city departments for review and comment. View a development flowchart for specific details.

If the application is complete, it is also assigned to a staff planner in Community Development and scheduled for a public hearing with either the Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board or Board of Zoning Appeals as follows:

• Planning Board applications: annexation; rezoning, including planned unit developments (PUDs); preliminary subdivision plats; state or municipally owned and operated public facility reviews.


• Board of Zoning Appeals applications: conditional use requests.

7. How is public notice given for the public hearing?

At least 20 days before the public hearing date, the city publishes the legal notice in the Manhattan Mercury and mails written notice directly to the surrounding owners of record of any property located within 200 feet of the subject site, if located within the city, and 1,000 feet if located in the unincorporated county.

In addition, approximately one week prior to the public hearing date, the city emails the meeting agenda to anyone who has subscribed through the In Touch email notification system on the city’s website for either the Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board or the Manhattan Board of Zoning Appeals. Planning Board agendas contain links to agenda items that can be downloaded.

8. Who should attend the public hearing?

Anyone who has an interest in the agenda item is encouraged to attend the public hearing.

9. What happens at the public hearing?

The board chairperson presides over the meeting and will introduce each agenda item. The format typically is as follows:

• Staff presentation: The staff planner who was assigned to that item will present the staff report and give the city’s recommendation regarding the request.


• Board questions: The board will be given the opportunity to ask the planner questions about the proposal and staff report.


• Applicant’s presentation: The chairperson will open the public hearing and typically the applicant and/or their consultant will make a presentation on their proposal and answer any questions from the board.


• Public comments and questions: The chairperson will ask for public comment, input and questions from anyone in the audience who wants to speak.




• To provide public comment or ask questions, proceed to the lectern, sign in on the sheet on the lectern, then state your name and address for the record and provide your comments to the board. Because public hearings are televised, your comments and questions must be made from the lectern and not from the audience seating area.


• Please direct all questions to the chairperson, who will direct the question to the appropriate person(s) to answer (i.e. board members, applicant, consultant or city staff).


• Closing of public hearing: Once all audience members have been given the opportunity to speak and ask questions, and the applicant has been given the opportunity to respond, the chairperson will close the public hearing.


• Board’s deliberations: The board will then ask questions, if any, of the applicant, staff, and the public and deliberate the request to arrive at a recommendation to forward to the City Commission, or in the case of the Board of Zoning Appeals, to make a final decision on the request.

10. What if I can’t attend the public hearing?

You can email or mail comments to the Community Development Department before the scheduled public hearing date. Written comments are preferred over phone calls, so your comments can be included in the board’s meeting packet of background information and so your comments can be part of the public record for that agenda item. You can also talk to the planner who had been assigned to the agenda item that you are interested in.

Write:
Community Development
1101 Poyntz Ave.
Manhattan, KS 66502
Or email the staff planner assigned to the project

11. How do I sign up for email notifications for upcoming planning and zoning development reviews?

You can subscribe to any of the advisory boards, City Commission and/or neighborhood notification areas that interest you. Once you are subscribed, you will receive automatic emailed agendas for any boards you sign up for, and notification of neighborhood meetings in any areas you subscribed to.

12. How do I contact members of the Board of Zoning Appeals, Planning Board or City Commission with my comments and concerns about a rezoning or a case before the BZA?

You are encouraged to contact the Community Development Department at (785) 587-2412 and ask for the planner who has been assigned to the proposed project in question. All written comments will be included in the information packet for the Advisory Board’s public hearing and for the City Commission to consider. All Board of Zoning Appeals cases and all rezoning cases that go through the Planning Board and City Commission must follow a quasi-judicial process to ensure a transparent, impartial, open and fair public hearing is provided to consider the proposal.

This is often referred to as “due-process." Due process requires any information (written, verbal, or graphic) submitted or used to base a decision on must be presented for everyone to hear and see within the formal public hearing process, and not in private one-on-one discussions with Advisory Board or City Commission members outside of the public hearing process. Because of this due process requirement, Advisory Board members and/or City Commissioners may tell you that they don’t want to talk about the project outside of the public hearing and they may encourage you to go to the public hearing and/or submit written comments. If an Advisory Board and/or City Commission member decides to let you speak with them about a proposal, they are obligated to disclose the substance of your conversation at the public hearing.