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Protection & Policy committee refers sign-permit overhaul to staff, asks for March 10 update
Summary
The committee voted to refer a proposal to streamline the city's sign-permit process — including a single point-of-contact model and potential delegation of some right-of-way permits to staff — and asked for a progress update on March 10.
The Protection & Policy Committee voted Jan. 24 to refer a proposal that would streamline the city’s sign-permit process and asked staff to return with recommended changes by March 10.
Committee members said the proposed changes would create one applicant point of contact within the department and could reduce delays caused by routing permits through multiple departments and monthly council schedules. "We've made some changes. I think that is helping to streamline that process with 1 point of contact in our department," a department director told the committee.
The discussion focused on permits that affect the public right-of-way, which may require a revocable occupancy permit and a city-drafted hold-harmless agreement. The director said those items currently sometimes go to City Council and that waiting for the council calendar can delay approvals. The director also described procedural bottlenecks tied to certificate-of-insurance review and the need for risk-management review.
Committee members and staff raised several possible fixes: redrafting the application to include a checklist for right-of-way impacts, directing staff to execute straightforward revocable-occupancy agreements, combining paperwork steps now handled on the third floor, and clarifying whether some approvals legally require City Council action or can be delegated to staff.
The committee noted a vacant right-of-way agent position previously held by Tom Gizzee and said the department has a new compliance-inspector position that will serve as a point of contact for sign permits and short-term rentals. Committee Chair moved and the motion was seconded to refer the item to staff for work with the law department and to return with recommendations on March 10; the motion carried.
The committee did not adopt specific ordinance language or change council authority at the Jan. 24 meeting; it referred the matter to staff for legal review and drafting and set a target date for an update.
The referral is intended to speed permit processing for small businesses that want to install signage quickly after signing leases or opening. Staff said they will evaluate whether routine revocable-occupancy permits and related documents can be executed administratively and will return with recommended process changes and any legal constraints identified by the law department.
The committee’s referral does not itself change city policy; any change that requires ordinance or council action would come later after staff and law department review.
