Hastings planning commission approves comprehensive sign-code rewrite after brief delay

The Hastings Planning Commission on May 20 approved a comprehensive rewrite of the city’s sign code, voting 6 to 1 in favor of changes that reorganize district standards and clarify sign-area and monument/pole sign tables.

Commissioner Chuck, who moved the approval, told the commission the packet included “quite a few changes on the sign ordinance” and said he had hoped for a work session to review the revisions line by line. Commissioner Lou said a work session would allow the commission to resolve questions about size and location and acknowledged that could delay a vote “30 to 60 days.”

Amber, a city staff member who presented the rewrite, recommended approval instead of further delay. Amber said staff reformatted the code to present regulations by district on single pages so sign contractors would have a single reference, and added tables comparing current sign sizes with the proposed standards. “The sign code focuses on the health, safety and welfare through effective and consistent signage,” Amber said. She described several substantive edits: consolidation of temporary sign rules in the agricultural district, increased wall-sign area for institutional and conditional uses in residential districts, frontage-based permanent sign allowances in commercial-office districts, larger projecting signs in the Central Business District (increasing projecting signs from 10 to 50 square feet), and clarified monument and pole sign tables in commercial and industrial districts so interpretations are consistent between administrators.

Several commissioners thanked staff for the one-page district summaries Amber prepared; Commissioner Sean said he “really like[d] the 1 sheets.” Commissioner Michelle asked whether the rewrite would affect already permitted signs; Amber replied it would not, and that a nonconformity section allows existing signs to be maintained unless they are more than 60% destroyed, at which point replacement would need to comply with the code.

Commissioner Chuck asked for printed summaries; Amber agreed to provide a brief redline/summary to the commission to save time. After discussion, the commission voted to approve the proposed sign-code changes, 6 to 1.

The approved rewrite reorganizes the code by district, clarifies monument and pole sign rules that previously appeared in difficult-to-read tables, and aligns some limits (such as projecting sign area) with feedback from downtown business owners. Amber said portions addressing nonconforming signs and small wind energy systems were unchanged from previous drafts and that staff relied on comparisons with other Nebraska communities, including Fremont, Grand Island and Kearney.

The commission’s approval sends the revised sign code forward for whatever next steps the city’s adoption process requires.