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 signs may be allowed in the public right-of-way.

Commissioners and the consultant discussed options for businesses that lack street frontage: recorded sign easements between parcels, master sign plans created during the development review process, and off-premise A-frame allowances modeled on Issaquah (up to 50 feet) and Wenatchee (200 feet). Lisa said the city already has a zoning administration provision that allows signage 12 feet from a business entrance and suggested testing 50-foot and 200-foot distances for pedestrian- and vehicle-oriented signage in the visual survey.

The commission heard that multi-tenant sites should adopt a master sign permit during site planning so each tenant has assigned space on a monument or campus sign and to reduce later disputes when suites split or are added. Oniza noted that such master plans are commonly enforced through binding site plans or recorded easements and recommended the city require evidence of recorded easements when a sign permit depends on private property rights.

Other topics covered: facade-proportional wall-sign standards (for example, a percentage of a building's facade with a cap, rather than a fixed 50-square-foot maximum), removal of three-line copy limits in favor of measuring total sign area and regulating text size for visibility at different travel speeds, and separate rules for I-90 corridor signage. The team presented examples from Issaquah, Gig Harbor and Wenatchee and said some jurisdictions treat ramps as part of a highway corridor.

Commissioners asked about safety and clutter from multiple A-frame signs on sidewalks, separation distances between signs, utility easement conflicts for monument sign footings, administrative variance allowances (an existing 10% administrative variance for setbacks and dimensions) and enforcement of electronic sign lumens and change frequency. Oniza said the draft ordinance will combine best practices, traffic-safety standards and legal review by city counsel.

The consultants also discussed placemaking signs and district-level signage: larger, landmark-style signs that identify a neighborhood or development. Lisa said placemaking signs often must be noncommercial if placed in the right-of-way; allowing business names on such signs could trigger constitutional and permitting issues. The team proposed removing wayfinding from the placemaking discussion for now and recommended getting public input via the visual preferencing survey.

Next steps: staff and Burke Planning will run a virtual open house with a visual preferencing survey May 12'May 30, use the feedback to prepare a draft ordinance, and bring a public hearing draft to the commission on Aug. 13. Oniza and Lisa said the team will record, analyze and publish stakeholder feedback and legal checks before returning to the commission.