Planning commission unanimously recommends defining shopping centers in sign code

The Morgan County Planning Commission voted unanimously on March 27 to recommend that the County Commission adopt a code text amendment defining a "shopping center" in the county's sign code, with the stated intent of limiting sign clutter and clarifying sign entitlement for multi-lot or multi-tenant commercial developments.

The zoning administrator presented a short draft definition they said would "define shopping center as commercial developments that include commercial subdivisions in their entirety. Strip malls, strip developments, and any combination of multi lot or multi tenant developments." The staff presentation said the "intent of our sign code is to limit or restrict visual clutter and to reduce the total number of signs that encumber the lots within our county." The draft referenced a memorandum dated 03/27/2025 as the basis for findings.

Commission discussion focused on the wording. Some commissioners and staff suggested using the term "commercial center" rather than "shopping center" so the definition would cover nonretail commercial developments such as storage or flex-space properties. One commissioner said they would "only want 1 big sign out there for the whole development," while another suggested the word "shopping" may not plainly include storage facilities. The zoning administrator said they would consider adding "retail" as a qualifier but preferred a broader commercial definition so that developments such as "Canyon View Commercial" would not result in every lot receiving its own freestanding sign.

County attorney Josh warned the commission that piecemeal fixes could have wider consequences in the code. "I think, eventually, we just need to get a consultant to rewrite our code," he said, cautioning that changing the terminology in one place "might affect another ordinance" and that a targeted edit could "snowball." He advised leaving the narrower draft as written if the commission wanted a quick fix.

The commission opened a public hearing on the item and received no public comments. Member Maloney moved to recommend approval of the draft shopping center definition to the County Commission "based on the findings listed in the memorandum dated 03/27/2025." Member Wilson seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The commission did not make a broader code rewrite decision; the attorney and some members noted a possible future need for a comprehensive code rewrite or consultant review if additional inconsistencies are found.