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Chesapeake Beach planning commission sends draft sign ordinance, including digital-sign rules, to town council
Summary
On Sept. 24 the Chesapeake Beach Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to forward a revised draft of the town's sign regulations to the Town Council. The draft adds a new section for electronic message centers, clarifies exemptions for government scoreboards and amends rules on flashing signs, off-premise signs and A-frame definitions.
Chesapeake Beach Planning and Zoning Commission on Sept. 24 voted to transmit a revised draft sign ordinance to the Town Council after the commission agreed to several edits and clarifications.
The commission said the draft adds a new section covering electronic message centers (EMCs) and tightens language addressing temporary banners, scoreboards and flashing or blinking illumination. Chair Cindy Greengold and other commissioners praised planning staff for the draft and moved that the commission forward the document to council with the edits discussed at the meeting.
The ordinance draft includes a dedicated EMC section to regulate digital displays, a new explicit exemption for official scoreboards on government-owned athletic fields, and a consolidated rule on flashing illumination. Commissioners directed staff to exempt "official scoreboards located on government-owned property" and to require that exempt scoreboards still comply with other applicable EMC guidelines. Commissioners also agreed to change the flashing/blinking threshold that had been written as "less than a 3-second cycle" to a uniform 10-second display interval to match the EMC display timing used elsewhere in the draft and to reduce driver distraction.
Commissioners debated several wording and placement issues. They agreed to replace a cross-reference in the off-premise sign section with direct wording reading "None except for official traffic signs and other federal, state, county, or town government signs" so the rule does not require readers to flip to another section. They also removed one clause that staff and commissioners said was redundant (the transcript records deleting an extra "shall").
On A-frame and T-frame signs, the commission removed a phrase that had described A-frame messages as "targeted to pedestrians," after members noted many A-frames in town also serve passing vehicles. The draft retained a size cap for A-frame/T-frame signs: no more than 12 square feet.
Commissioners made the changes at the dais and then voted to forward the revised draft to Town Council for consideration. Commissioner Brown made the motion to transmit the draft with the changes discussed; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote with all five commissioners present voting in favor.
"We did a — you did a great job, Miss Franklin," Commissioner Cindy Greengold said after the vote, thanking planning staff for preparing the draft.
What happens next: the commission directed staff to finalize the ordinance text incorporating the edits discussed at the meeting and to transmit the draft to the council. Council is the next step for possible public hearings and adoption.
Votes at a glance: The commission moved and seconded a motion to transmit the draft sign ordinance (referred to during the meeting as sign regulation 290-22) to the Town Council; the motion passed by voice vote, with commissioners in attendance voting aye (5-0).
