Westmont updates sign rules; commission limits bright LED window borders and adds grand‑opening allowances

Article 11 (signs) drew detailed comment and technical edits during the June 25 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting as staff walked commissioners through proposed clarifications and a few new restrictions.

Scott Williams summarized the goals: preserve the village’s relatively permissive sign allowances while fixing specific issues and legal vulnerabilities. "We've expanded the list of prohibited signs, to include flashing LED window borders," Williams said. He described measurement changes intended to benefit businesses that use individual‑letter signage: instead of drawing a single bounding rectangle around a group of letters, the new method permits a tighter polygon that does not penalize empty space between letters.

Commissioners discussed lighting‑and‑display specifics. Several commissioners and staff said very bright LED borders or flashing borders — the kind of bright strips visible from blocks away — are intended to be prohibited as signage because they operate as attention‑seeking advertising. Commissioners asked staff to refine the lighting rule to avoid unintentionally banning legitimate architectural or accent lighting. "I don't think that's meant to disallow that type of lighting," Williams said of downcast façade lighting; commissioners asked for clearer language that distinguishes acceptable accent illumination from visible, flashing window borders.

The draft also creates allowances for businesses to use temporary feather banners and other materials for grand openings without a permit, within a defined calendar window. Commissioner Sharp suggested more flexibility for pre‑opening promotional signage; staff said standard banner permits remain an available option and that the proposed grand‑opening allowance is intended to avoid forcing small businesses into last‑minute permitting.

Commissioners asked for clarity on alley‑ and rear‑facing signage in the downtown: staff explained the draft permits an additional, smaller alley‑facing sign when the rear façade is finished with the same architectural materials as the front, but that rear signage is measured as an allotment from the overall permitted sign allowance rather than as a separate full allowance.

Williams said staff will correct grammar and cross‑reference errors and return refined language at the July 23 meeting. There was no vote on the sign text at this session.