Planning commission reviews proposed updates to Liberty Lake sign code, schedules public open house

Oniza, a Burke Planning consultant, and Lisa, a community development staff member, briefed the Liberty Lake Planning Commission on draft approaches to amend the city's sign code during a workshop April 23.

The presentation outlined two parts of the update: legal requirements (including content-neutral rules and federal/state highway restrictions) and locally tailored standards to preserve design quality while improving business visibility. Oniza said the team completed a code audit and stakeholder meetings in December and February and now seeks input to finalize a draft ordinance for public hearing in August.

The consultants emphasized content neutrality for noncommercial signs, consistent with recent case law, meaning the city should classify signs by structure and placement rather than message. Oniza said the draft will focus on regulating size, height and duration for temporary signs and will identify which noncommercial…