Kingman City Council heard more than a dozen public commenters on temporary and off‑site signage and directed staff to draft proposed ordinance changes that would allow limited off‑site temporary signs for special events and require a permitting process.

The discussion followed a presentation by Jason Moquin of Community Development Services, who summarized the city’s current regulations and comparable rules in nearby jurisdictions and reminded the council of state and federal legal constraints. "That is an off premise sign. Those signs are currently, based on the current ordinance, would be an illegal sign," Moquin said, describing signs commonly posted on fences near Stockton Hill Road as illegal under the city’s present code.

The issue mattered to nonprofit event organizers, craft vendors and small businesses who said the lack of permitted off‑site advertising has reduced event attendance and hurt sales. Gary Bowles, a member of the Mohave County Gemstoners, asked council for a focused workshop on special‑event signage, saying, "We would very much like to see a workshop for special event signs only and would ask that we be allowed to be part of it in the future." Vendors and organizers described practices they use now — obtaining landowner permission, limiting display time and ensuring contact information on banners.

Why it matters: the council must balance businesses’ and nonprofits’ request for predictable, limited promotional signage against the city’s interest in avoiding visual clutter and complying with legal limits on content‑based regulation. Moquin cited Arizona statute language the city incorporated and Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court decision that bars content‑based sign restrictions: municipalities may regulate time, place and manner (size, location, duration) but not content.

What was proposed and discussed
- Current Kingman allowances described by staff: feather banners in commercial zones up to 20 square feet; A‑frame signs up to 12 square feet; on‑site banners up to 32 square feet in commercial zones; window signage up to 50% of window area; real‑estate signs up to 4 square feet; yard signs up to 3 square feet. Feather flags and some temporary formats are currently permitted only on the property being advertised.
- Examples from other jurisdictions: Bullhead City allows temporary signs tied to permitted special events and has separate size/permit limits; Mohave County treats certain small temporary signs as exempt up to 24 square feet; Lake Havasu prohibits off‑premise banners in its tables of allowed signs.
- Community suggestions collected in the meeting packet included requiring property‑owner permission for off‑site placements, limiting the number of signs per event (one proposal capped signs at 15 citywide per event), specifying display windows (examples included allowing display up to 15 days before an event with removal within 48 hours), and requiring applicant contact information on signs so illegal displays can be traced.

Enforcement and practicality
Moquin told council the city had been removing 8–12 banners in a problem area prior to pausing enforcement for this workshop. He described the typical enforcement path: a notice to come into compliance (about 30 days), followed by potential abatement or referral to the city attorney if property owners fail to cooperate. Several council members and staff raised concerns about clutter and how frequent, recurring uses (weekly markets or weekly craft events) might effectively become permanent advertising.

Council direction and next steps
Councilors expressed support for revising the ordinance rather than strict immediate enforcement of the current prohibition on off‑site signs. The council’s direction to staff included drafting ordinance language that:
- remains content neutral and complies with Reed v. Town of Gilbert;
- defines "special event" or ties off‑site allowances to a special‑event permit;
- specifies time, place, manner and quantity limits (display period, number of signs per event, quality/installation standards);
- requires documented property‑owner permission with permit applications;
- considers whether signage on fences should be allowed and, if so, under uniform standards.

Moquin said staff will work with the city attorney to return with draft ordinance language and that no motion was required at the workshop. "Nothing more today. I've received direction. No motion needed," he said. The council did not take a formal vote during the meeting.

Members of the public and event organizers who spoke included representatives of the Mohave County Gemstoners, Mohave Markets, Sounds of Kingman, Route 66 Rotary and other local vendors; small business owners and realtors also described lost foot traffic tied to the enforcement of the existing off‑site ban. The public record presented several concrete requests — defined display windows, owner permission, and an enforceable permitting fee — which staff said they will incorporate into proposed language to return to council.

The council provided conceptual guidance but left several open questions for staff and legal review, including exact size and quantity limits, whether to permit feather flags or limit to a single temporary format for off‑site advertising, and how to treat multi‑tenant commercial centers where property boundaries complicate enforcement.