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The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinion No. 6482 December 14, 1987 NEWSPAPERS: Notice of tentative county zoning plan PUBLICATION: Printing of notice of tentative county zoning plan in newspaper WORDS AND PHRASES: "Printed" ZONING AND PLANNING: Printing of notice of tentative county zoning plan in newspaper Notice of a tentative county zoning plan is "printed" when it appears in a newspaper which is distributed in such a manner as to make the newspaper easily accessible to the public. Honorable Tom Alley State Representative The Capitol Lansing, MI 48909 You have requested my opinion concerning the meaning of MCL 125.209; MSA 5.2961(9), which provides in part: "[T]he county zoning commission shall hold at least 1 public hearing, notice of which hearing shall be given by 2 publications in a newspaper published in the county, and if a newspaper is not published in the county, then in a newspaper published in an adjacent county, the first to be printed not more than 30 days and not less than 20 days, and the second not more than 8 days before the date of the hearing." Specifically, you inquire as to when a newspaper is "printed" for the purpose of this statutory provision. MCL 125.209; MSA 5.2961(9), is a notice provision requiring, among other things, notice of the public hearing upon a tentative zoning plan by publications in a newspaper. In this statutory provision the Legislature has provided that notice is to be given by "2 publications in a newspaper ... the first to be printed not more than 30 days and not less than 20 days, and the second not more than 8 days before the date of the hearing." The Supreme Court of Nebraska stated in Nebraska Land Stock-Growing & Investment Co v McKinley-Lanning Loan & Trust Co, 52 Neb 410; 72 NW 357, 358 (1897), that " '[p]rint' is familiarly used in the sense of 'publish,' and in that sense the word receives recognition in many, if not all, of the dictionaries, ...." Since MCL 125.209; MSA 5.2961(9), is a statutory provision, the purpose of which is to provide notice to the public by publication in a newspaper, it is my opinion that the Legislature was using the word "printed" as synonymous with "published" so as to make the notice available to the public within applicable time periods provided within the statutory provision. The Michigan Court of Appeals stated in People v Poyma, 91 Mich App 238, 241-242; 283 NW2d 707 (1979), that in the case of publication of the adoption of the uniform traffic code ordinance required by statute " 'publication' means 'printing or otherwise reproducing copies of them and distributing them in such a manner as to make their contents easily accessible to the public.' Black's Law Dictionary (4th ed), p 1396." It is my opinion, therefore, that for purposes of providing notice of a tentative county zoning plan by printing in a newspaper as provided in MCL 125.209; MSA 5.2961(9), the newspaper is "printed" only when it is distributed in such a manner as to make the newspaper easily accessible to the public. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General
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