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Borger council updates land-development code language after state law change on nonconforming signs
Summary
City staff asked the council to update the Unified Land Development Ordinance to reflect a 2023 state law that limits local restrictions on rebuilding nonconforming uses and signs; council approved the text changes.
Garrett Spradley, a city staff member, introduced a public hearing and asked the Borger City Council to approve text changes to the city’s Unified Land Development Ordinance to align local code with a 2023 state law affecting nonconforming uses.
The changes would allow owners to rebuild nonconforming signs or uses that were destroyed by events beyond the owner’s control, such as fire or natural disaster, consistent with the state law adopted in 2023. City staff said the local code as written no longer matches state requirements and recommended updating the ordinance language.
The update matters because staff identified an application for a billboard that had been destroyed in 2022; that application prompted review of the ordinance language. "We do have an application turned in for the billboard that was destroyed back in 2022," Spradley said. He told the council the state made changes in 2023 that preempt certain local restrictions on reconstructing nonconforming uses.
Spradley and council members discussed how the local code and state law interact. Council members asked whether rebuilt structures must meet current codes; Spradley replied that rebuilt uses must meet new code standards but that nonconforming elements (for example, a sign with previous nonconforming siting) may be allowed to continue in their nonconforming status. He noted the city’s 700-foot spacing requirement remains enforceable for new signs but does not bar reconstruction of an already nonconforming sign.
The staff presentation also noted a pending lawsuit related to the sign; Spradley said, "In our preparation for the lawsuit, we found out that the law had changed, so there is really no legal argument to defend the pending lawsuit." The council moved to update the ordinance text to reflect state law and the motion carried.
City staff and council members framed the action as an administrative alignment of the city code with state statute rather than a new policy initiative. No amendments to the substantive regulatory standards beyond the text alignment were proposed during the hearing.
The council approved the text updates to the Unified Land Development Ordinance as presented. The council did not specify further implementation steps during the meeting.
