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Council reviews draft sign‑ordinance changes; debate centers on enforcement, right‑of‑way and sandwich boards
Summary
Staff presented a revised draft of the city's temporary-sign rules that would allow up to four temporary sign permits per business per year (up to 56 days total) and reintroduce placards for enforcement; council members expressed concerns about enforcement workload, impacts on businesses and right‑of‑way signage.
City planning staff brought a revised draft to the Council Bluffs City Council that would permit each business to use up to four temporary sign allowances per year (up to 56 days total) and reintroduce placards and a right‑of‑way permit procedure for some sidewalk and sandwich‑board signage.
Planning staff described eight main changes in the draft: a four‑times‑per‑year cap on temporary signs (any combination totaling up to 56 days), placards to show authorized start dates, height limits (3 feet in C3/C4 districts unless a separate master plan covers the area), a right‑of‑way permit and indemnification for some frame signs, and a limit of one temporary sign per 100 linear feet (or up to four signs) to reduce strip‑mall clutter.
Council members and staff debated tradeoffs between enforcement workload and visual clutter. Councilor Roger Sandow and others raised concerns that many businesses currently place signage illegally in the right‑of‑way but the city’s limited enforcement resources mean rules are not consistently enforced. “If we change the law, … enforcement becomes hard,” a councilor said. Planning staff replied that placards would allow a drive‑by visual check for compliance and would enable staff to focus enforcement and education on repeat noncompliance.
Councilors asked whether small sandwich boards (under 3 feet) would still count as temporary signs and whether commonly used banners and trailer‑mounted signs would be affected. Staff said the draft treats portable sandwich boards as temporary signs subject to the new limits; building‑mounted banners can sometimes be treated differently under existing code. Staff also said the right‑of‑way provision would be new and require a permit and signed hold‑harmless agreement so the city is not liable if an object injures someone.
Several councilors suggested a narrower approach — add a sandwich‑board right‑of‑way permit to the existing code rather than a broader rewrite — and asked staff to gather more written suggestions from councilors within two weeks. Staff agreed to pull the item from the immediate Planning Commission schedule and return after council direction and comment.
The item was presented as a study-session discussion; no ordinance or vote was taken at this meeting.
