I learned from some other citizens that attended the West Lafayette City Council meeting last night, that several months ago (December 2013), the Tippecanoe County BZA updated its by-laws regarding written communication.

From that meeting:

Sallie Fahey said the Board requested that she and Jay Seeger write  a proposal for a By-law amendment related to letters read at public hearing. The Board was concerned about letters that when read are over the 5 minutes allowed for speakers at the hearing, letters that show up late in the afternoon or at the meeting, and what happens at subsequent meetings if a letter has already been read.

The board continued to discuss the changes and settled on amending their by-laws:

Letters and written communications mailed, hand delivered, faxed or emailed to the Office of the Board in advance of the hearing are intended for persons unable to attend the hearing themselves.

For letters to qualify to be entered into the record they must be:
1) signed regardless of delivery method
2) include the signer’s address
3) received no later than noon on the day of the hearing and
4) be no longer than two pages, 11 point font size, double spaced with 1” margins.

Letters sent to the office of the Board that qualify to be entered in the record will be read by staff, and once received the letter shall not be withdrawn. Once a letter is read at a meeting, it is a part of the record.

The writer is not permitted to speak or submit another letter even at a subsequent meeting resulting from either an inconclusive vote or a continuance, having originally chosen to submit a letter.

Should the author be present at the meeting he will not be permitted to speak, having elected instead to present his views in writing. This rule shall apply to any written material on which four or fewer signatures appear, or any petition of more than 300 words filed by the noon deadline. Any petition presented after the deadline or during the hearing shall not be read into the record by staff, but may be passed to the members.

You can read through the December 4th, 2013 minutes for all of the dialogue surrounding the change.

Be mindful when you write the BZA.  I would hate for your letter not to get in the record because it didn’t have the right margins.