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Brooksville board recommends sign-code rewrite, restores 10% wall-sign rule and limits feather flags
Summary
The board voted to recommend Ordinance 1,008 to City Council, which clarifies prohibited signs (including poll signs), revises replacement rules for damaged nonconforming signs, restores wall-sign sizing to 10% of building facade, and limits feather flags to one per parcel.
The City of Brooksville planning board voted to recommend Ordinance 1,008 to City Council after staff described a set of corrections and clarifications to the city’s sign regulations.
Steve, the presenting city planner, said the 2023 rewrite of Article 7 had produced several unintended effects and oversights. "In the 2023 modifications to the sign ordinance, we essentially wrote poll signs out ... we just realized that there wasn't anything saying that poll signs were not allowed. So make up for that oversight," he said. The proposed amendment adds explicit prohibitions for poll signs and other items to align the code text with practice.
The draft ordinance also changes the rules for damaged nonconforming signs. The prior language tied a 50% damage threshold to an appraisal "by the property appraiser," language staff said was inapplicable because the property appraiser does not appraise signs. The amendment instead uses a structural-damage trigger so that signs with significant structural repair needs must be replaced with conforming signs.
Another change restores the wall-sign sizing standard to its pre-2023 form: instead of a flat 16-square-foot maximum, the code returns to allowing wall signage up to 10% of the building facade. Steve said the 16-square-foot cap had created many nonconformities for larger buildings.
On temporary signage, the amendment tightens the feather-flag provision. "We've put the provision that says, one parcel, one feather flag," Steve said, explaining the change aims to reduce enforcement disputes on commercial strips.
Board members asked about window-display limits, citing a 20% cap on permanent window signage and local examples where store windows are heavily covered. Staff said many existing displays may be lawful nonconformities under the current code and that enforcement and variance routes remain limited and case-by-case.
After clarifying a minor wording correction to remove a cross-reference to Article 11 definitions from the version that will go to City Council, the board voted to recommend approval of Ordinance 1,008 as amended. No public comments were recorded during the meeting.
The City Council is scheduled to receive the ordinance for consideration on December 1.
