N.Y. General Municipal Law § 704: Notice of hearing on petition or joint resolution to initiate annexation of territory

§ 704. Notice of hearing on petition or joint resolution to initiate

annexation of territory. 1. In the event it is proposed to annex

territory, the governing board or boards of the local government or

governments to which it is proposed to annex such territory and the

governing board or boards of the affected local government or

governments in which such territory is situated shall, within twenty

days after receipt of a petition or adoption of a joint resolution to

initiate annexation, respectively cause a notice to be published once in

its or their official newspapers, or, if there be no official newspaper,

in a newspaper published in the county and having general circulation

within the area of such local government or governments, as the case may

be. The governing board of each affected local government in which such

territory is situated also shall cause a copy of such notice to be

mailed to each person or corporation owning real property in such

territory as shown by the last preceding assessment roll and to all

persons residing in such territory qualified to vote for officers of the

city, town or village, as the case may be, in which such territory is

situated as their names appear upon the register of voters for the last

preceding general election. Where the territory to be annexed is

situated wholly or partly within a village, the governing board of such

village and the governing board of a town or towns in which such

territory is wholly or partly situated may provide by agreement for

joint publication and mailing of such notice. Failure to mail such

notice or failure of any addressee to receive the same shall not in any

manner affect the validity of the petition or joint resolution to

initiate annexation of territory or of any proceedings taken thereon

provided that the municipalities that adopted a joint resolution to

initiate annexation have demonstrated a good faith attempt to mail such

notice to each person or corporation owning real property as required by

this section. Such notice shall state that a petition for the annexation

of territory or a joint resolution to initiate annexation of territory

to the local government or governments (naming it or them and briefly

describing the territory proposed to be annexed thereto) has been

proposed, that at a specified place in one of such local governments on

a specified day not less than twenty days nor more than forty days after

the publication and mailing of such notice, which place and date shall

be specified therein, a joint hearing will be had upon such petition or

joint resolution to initiate annexation by such governing boards. Each

of such governing boards shall cause a copy of such notice to be mailed

not less than ten days prior to the date of such joint hearing to the

school authorities of any school district in which all or part of the

territory proposed to be annexed is situated and, where it is proposed

to annex territory to a city, to the school authorities of any school

district (a) adjoining the territory proposed to be annexed and (b)

located wholly or partly within such city. Each of such governing boards

shall also cause a copy of such notice to be posted on the website of

the local government, if one exists.

2. In a case where it is proposed to annex territory in a town or

towns to another local government or governments, the town board or

boards in which such territory is situated shall cause a copy of such

notice to be mailed not less than ten days prior to the date of such

joint hearing to the board of commissioners or other governing body of

each fire district or other district corporation, public benefit

corporation, and town improvement district operated by a separate board

of commissioners, situated wholly or partly in the territory to be

annexed.

3. In the event that any affected local government shall fail to

publish and mail such notice as required by subdivision one of this

section or in the event that the town board of a town shall fail to

cause copies thereof to be mailed as required by subdivision two of this

section, the governing board or boards of any other affected local

government or governments, if it or they deem it to be desirable, may,

during an additional twenty days following the forty day period now

provided in subdivision one of this section, amend and republish its or

their notices and, on behalf of such local government, town board, or

both, publish and mail such notices.