§45-2-261.04. Procedure for adoption and amendment of ordinances and regulations.

(a) The Baldwin County Commission may adopt ordinances and regulations as necessary to effect the provisions of this subpart. The ordinances or regulations shall be made in accordance with a master plan and designed to lessen congestion in the streets, to secure safety from fire, panic, and other dangers, to promote health and general welfare, to provide adequate light and air, to prevent overcrowding of land, to avoid undue concentration of population and to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks, and other public requirements. The ordinances and regulations shall be made with reasonable consideration, among other things, to the character of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses and with the view of conserving the value of the buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the district. For the purpose of promoting the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the community, the county commission may regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of buildings or structures, the percentage of lots that may be occupied, the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces, the density of population and the location and use of buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, residences, or other purposes.

(b) Prior to the adoption of a proposed ordinance or regulation, or amendment thereto, pursuant to this subpart, notice that an ordinance or regulation, or amendment thereto, will be considered shall be published for three consecutive weeks in the legal section of a newspaper of general circulation in the county. In addition, a notice shall be published at least five days prior to the date of the public hearing in the regular section of the newspaper which shall be in the form of at least one quarter page advertisement. The notice shall state that an ordinance or regulation, or amendment thereto, will be considered by the Baldwin County Commission pursuant to this subpart and that a copy of the proposed ordinance or regulation, or amendment thereto, is available for public inspection at the nearest county courthouse or the nearest county courthouse satellite office which locations shall be clearly published in the notice. The notice required to be published by this subpart shall also state the time and place and location where all persons may be heard in opposition to or in favor of the ordinance or regulation or amendment thereto. The regulation, ordinance, or amendment thereto, shall not become effective until adoption by the Baldwin County Commission after a public hearing thereon, at which parties in interest and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard. If a parcel of property may be rezoned by a proposed amendment, a conspicuously located sign advising the general public of the proposed amendment shall be posted on the property no less than three weeks prior to the date of the hearing.

(Act 91-719, p. 1389, §5; Act 98-665, p. 1455, §1.)