Addison adopts unified development code; council increases allowable window signage and expands sidewalk signs for mixed-use areas

The Addison City Council on March 25 voted to adopt a new Unified Development Code that reorganizes the town’s zoning, subdivision, building and sign rules and sets a Sept. 1, 2025, effective date. Council members approved the 200‑plus page UDC after a public hearing and a month of additional edits, and instructed staff to modify the sign standards: increase the maximum window sign coverage and expand temporary sidewalk signs in select districts.

Leslie Knipe, director of development and neighborhood services, presented the draft UDC and outlined recent revisions, including clarifications on artificial turf, expanded exterior lighting requirements and several changes to the sign code. “Artificial turf may be used for residential properties,” Knipe said, “however, [it] cannot be used to satisfy a minimum requirement for commercial landscaping requirements.” She explained staff had proposed keeping the existing 10% maximum window coverage as one option but had offered two alternative approaches that would permit greater window signage under certain conditions.

The council debated three sign options and whether to allow sidewalk sandwich‑board signs beyond the Addison Circle special-sign district. Several council members said they wanted to support businesses by increasing permissible window signage and allowing pedestrian‑oriented sidewalk signs in mixed‑use areas; others raised concerns about clutter, ADA clearance and enforcement workload. After discussion, the council directed staff to adopt a hybrid change: keep the proposed Option 1 rules but raise the maximum window coverage to 20% of total window area per facade, and expand temporary sidewalk signage allowances to multi‑tenant structures in M1, M2 and M3 districts and in planned developments (PDs) where multi‑tenant centers exist. Under the adopted UDC, temporary sidewalk signs will be limited in size and duration and subject to placement and clearance standards.

Knipe told council the UDC project began in 2018 and included a 12‑member advisory committee, repeated work sessions with the planning and zoning commission and council, and public engagement through an online review platform. Staff said they will next prepare a zoning‑map transition that applies the new districts to existing properties and will return to the planning and zoning commission (proposed June 17) and council (proposed July 22) for the zoning‑map amendments needed to implement the code. Staff also set Sept. 1, 2025 as the code’s effective date and said implementation work — website updates, forms and application changes— will continue through the summer.

The council approved the UDC and the sign changes by motion after the public hearing. The document carries new provisions for content‑neutral sign review, additional pedestrian‑scale lighting requirements, and rules intended to limit the creation of nonconforming lots and uses as the new districts take effect. Staff estimated roughly 10–15% of Addison land area could be “possibly or potentially” nonconforming under a straight transition and said the code’s district mapping was designed to limit that effect.

Council members thanked staff and the advisory committee for a multiyear effort. The council did not adopt the zoning‑map amendments at the March 25 meeting; staff will return with the mapping and other implementation steps in June and July.