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Council adopts amended historic-downtown sign ordinance; freestanding/pole-sign language tabled for refinement
Summary
After extended discussion, the council adopted changes to the city’s historic downtown signage rules (including allowing halo signs and increasing allowable window-sign coverage to 25%) while removing proposed freestanding/pole prohibitions and tabling monument/pylon-size language for further committee and staff work.
The Cedar City Council voted to adopt amendments to the historic downtown signage ordinance with several targeted modifications and a direction to staff to refine freestanding/pole-sign definitions and monument sign language.
City Engineer Don Bedrow opened the discussion with two staff suggestions: correct a window-sign limit from 20% to 25% to match the rest of the ordinance, and explicitly exempt small open/closed illuminated window signs from enforcement. Bedrow said he had walked downtown and observed common modern window signs and suggested the exemption so the city would not “chase what people do with their windows.”
Councilmembers and business and property owners debated whether monument-style or freestanding signs should be allowed in the historic core (generally from 200 South to 200 North). Councilmember Cox and property owner Steve Nelson argued that some buildings are recessed from Main Street and have parking behind them, and that in those cases taller or freestanding signage could help direct drivers to businesses. Nelson urged the council to focus on “recessed buildings” rather than simply on parking-lot status when crafting an exception.
Others emphasized aesthetics and the ordinance’s intent to limit large pole signs on Main Street. After extended discussion the council instructed staff to:
- Adopt the ordinance changes that permit more building-front options including halo signs and to correct window-sign language to allow 25% of a window face to be used for signs, including internally lit or neon-style signs; and - Remove (for now) the proposed language that would prohibit freestanding signs in the historic downtown and to table the newly added language on monument-size allowances so staff and the historic downtown committee can draft clearer definitions and exceptions (for example, allowing taller freestanding/pole signs where the building is recessed with parking between the street and the building, and ensuring visibility/sight-line standards are met).
Councilmembers said existing signs would remain grandfathered. Staff and council asked to craft clearer definitions (monument, freestanding, pole, pylon, halo) and to return the monument/freestanding standard with recommended numeric limits and site-based exceptions. The motion to adopt the ordinance as modified carried; the council explicitly kept the monument-size and freestanding/pole-sign sections for further refinement.
