CITY OF CULVER CITY
COUNCIL POLICY STATEMENT Policy Number: 3405
General Subject: City Council and Administration Date Issued: 03/10/2025
Specific Subject: Public Notification and Community Effective Date: 03/10/2025 Involvement
Resolution No: 2025-R___
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I. PURPOSE:
The purpose of this pPolicy is to provide general guidelines for staff to use when preparing public notifications of various actions to be considered by the City Council, the City’s Commissions, /Boards, and /Committees (CBCs), and City staff, where applicable.
This Policy shall be consistent with the City Charter , the Culver City Municipal Code (CCMC) and other applicable laws (Applicable Laws). In the event of a conflict between the Policy and Applicable Laws, the Applicable Laws shall control.
II. CITY CHARTER PROVISIONS:
This Policy is established in accordance with Section 610 of the City Charter., which states:
The City Council shall comply with the applicable provisions of State law regarding the giving of notice for regular and special meetings. The City Council shall consider whether it should establish additional procedures to provide efficient, timely and cost-effective notice in a manner consistent with currently available technology.
This Policy is established in accordance with this City Charter provision.
III. LEGALLY REQUIRED NOTICE:
By adopting this Policy, the City Council restates the minimum requirements embodied in Federal, State, and Local laws Applicable Laws. In accordance with those aApplicable lLaws, staff shall, at a minimum, provide notice as legally required. Certain public notification requires notification of property owners and residents/occupants within a certain radius of the property that is the subject of the Council/Commission decision.
Where said radius ends mid-block, the minimum legal notification list shall be expanded to include property owners and residents/occupants to the end of the block.
IV. USE OF CITYWIDE NOTIFCIATION:
From time to time, City -wide notification via the U.S. Postal Service may be appropriate or desirable. Due to the cost involved, a City -wide notification shall only by conducted with the approval of the City Manager or at the direction of the City Council. Whenever possible and appropriate, City -wide notification shall be coordinated with the quarterly publication of Culver City Living.
Additionally, public notices shall be routinely placed on the City’s website. To conserve server storage space, p Public notices shall be removed from the website after the meetings or events that are the subject of the notices have occurred.
Due to the cost involved, an individual, full City-wide notification shall only be conducted with the approval of the City Manager or at the direction of the City Council.
V. CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER CARD:NOTIFICATION LISTS
The City Council and CBC “Request to Speaker Card ”, the City’s website, and all electronic notifications sent out via the City’s electronic notification system, shall provide information to interested parties on how to sign -up for public notification by Emai l. The instructions and procedures for either the E-Mail or Postal Mail Interest Lists. The City Council the “Request to Speaker” Card may be amended from time to time to further the goals of this Policy.
VI. ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTRAL EMAIL AND POSTAL MAIL INTEREST LISTS:
Culver City has had a tradition of encouraging public participation in the governmental process. As part of that tradition custom, the City has provided public notification in excess of the levels required requirements mandated by law. The City has also adopted a number of policies and procedures which make Culver City a leader in sustainability and environmental awareness. To provide for additional efficiencies, staff shall establish an Email Interest List.
Email Interest List
Whenever practical, the City shall encourage interested parties to sign -up for email notification through a self -service and self -selecting process. Email provides an efficient, timely, cost -effective, and environmentally sensitive method of providing public notification. Through the use of e mail, the City can notify a large number of persons simultaneously and almost instantly. Duplicate e-mails can be easily deleted, minimizing wasted resources.
Whenever practicable, the City shall encourage interested parties to sign-up for e-mail notification through a self-service and self-selecting process.
Postal Mail Interest Lists
To accommodate those persons who may not have easy access to a computer and/or the Internet, the City shall establish and maintain a postal mail interest list. Various categories of interest may be created in order to accommodate various topics. Such topics shall be established by staff based upon the number of individuals requesting notification on a topic.
Signing Up for Email and Postal Mail Interest Lists
To encourage and facilitate the use of both Interest Lists the Email Interest List, City Sstaff shall provide a number of ways in which interested persons can sign-up for both. These methods may include, (but are not be limited to):
• Electronic sign-up via the City’s website
• Manual sign-up via the City Council Speaker Card a “Request to Speak” • Manual sign-up via written or telephonic request
It is the responsibility of residents individuals who have signed up on the Email Interest lists to keep their email addresses current with the city by notifying updating such addresses in the public notification system on the City’s website or notifying the City in writing if they move or change their e-mail address.
VII. ADDITIONAL OUTREACH TO THE PUBLIC FOR DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS APPLICATIONS:
Additional outreach to the public is provided through the Required Community Meetings described in CCMC Chapter 17.625.
Notices prepared by an applicant pursuant to CCMC Title 17 shall be translated into Spanish.
In addition to the legally required notice contained in applicable Federal, State, and local law, the City shall strive to provide increased outreach for persons in the Culver City community on proposed developments. Following are examples of additional o utreach efforts currently used for this purpose:
• The First Mandatory Community Meeting is held at least one week prior to the Preliminary Project Review conducted by staff
• The Second Mandatory Community Meeting is held at least one week prior to application submittal
• The Third Mandatory Community Meeting is held at least 21 days from the application being deemed complete
• Notice for the Public Hearing before the Planning Commission is provided at least 21 days prior to the Planning Commission public hearing
• Planning Commission holds Public Hearing
• (If application is appealed to the City Council) Notice for the Public Hearing before the City Council is provided at least 21 days prior to the City Council public Hearing
• (If application is appealed to the City Council) City Council holds Public Hearing.
Additional information on these outreach efforts are contained in Attachment 1 of this Policy entitled “Community Outreach Guidelines.”
VIII. ADDITIONAL NOTICE:
The City Manager and the City’s Department Heads may determine that additional notice above beyond the minimum requirements of this Policy is in may be needed in order to serve the public interest. In that such a case, additional notice may be provided with the approval of the Department Head and/or the City Manager.
If public notification requires notification of property owners and residents/occupants within a certain radius of the property that is the subject of a City Council or CBC decision, and said radius ends mid -block, then the Department Head may determine that the minimum legal notification list shall be expanded to include property owners and residents/occupants to the end of such block.
It should be noted that all notice provided in excess of the legally required notice is done provided as a courtesy to the public, and the public notification methods contained within this Policy are guidelines. With the exception of notification required by Applicable Laws, the City, in its sole discretion, will determine the extent of the public notification that will be provided for any specific topic or item. The City will make a reasonable effort to provide the additional notice contained in this Policy.
*This Policy supersedes Council Policy No. 2007-02 issued on December 3, 2007 by Resolution No. 2007-R077 and Council Policy No. 2010-01 issued on April 3, 2010 by Resolution No. 2010-R022.