Anne Arundel County previews major rewrite of signage rules to align with court guidance

Anne Arundel County planning officials on Nov. 12 previewed a comprehensive overhaul of the county’s signage ordinance intended to make local rules constitutional, clearer for applicants and more flexible for businesses.

Lynn Miller, assistant planning and zoning officer, told the County Council the draft replaces dated terminology, adds a clear purpose-and-intent statement and includes expanded definitions to cover modern sign types. “One of our primary purposes was to make sure that our signage code is constitutionally up to snuff,” Miller said.

Jessica Bella, the consultant who helped lead a 16-member work group, reviewed the legal landscape that prompted the rewrite, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Reed v. Gilbert as the pivotal development. “If you are regulating by the purpose of that signage or its content, you are making a content‑based regulation,” Bella said, summarizing the court’s effect on local sign codes.

The draft makes several notable changes: - Definitions and illustrations: The ordinance expands its definitions section with visual guides to reduce ambiguity about what constitutes a given sign type. Miller said the graphics and a planned user guide should help applicants and reviewers interpret technical provisions. - Sign area measurement: The draft replaces the old “draw a rectangle” method with a more modern approach for irregular signs. Bella described a 12‑line perimeter method that trims unused corner space and is intended to allow more creative sign shapes without shrinking legibility. - Right‑of‑way oversight: The draft moves approval of signage in the county right of way from the Office of Planning and Zoning to the Department of Public Works, which staff said is better positioned to balance safety and traffic concerns. - Temporary and directional signage: The code tightens rules intended to avoid visual clutter while still protecting free-speech interests. Small temporary signs would be largely unrestricted; the draft generally limits large temporary signs to one per lot while allowing size adjustments for larger frontages. Directional signage meant to help navigate private sites would be allowed subject to size and placement guardrails. - Off‑premise billboards and prohibited signs: The draft preserves the county’s prohibition on off‑premise billboard signage and maintains exemptions for government speech and certain functional items like grave markers.

Council members pressed staff on how these changes will affect political signs in the coming election season. Bella said political signs must be treated neutrally, and that the draft allows numerous small temporary signs while placing stricter limits on large temporary signs. “Whatever you are comfortable with for the amount, the size, the type, [of political signage], you need to be comfortable with allowing that for anything else that goes on that signage,” she said.

Several council members also asked about the potential for area‑specific rules for historic districts. Miller said the county could adopt special sign requirements for a given area, but that would require separate, targeted legislation and stakeholder work.

The planning office and consultant said the draft is intended to survive likely legal challenges by avoiding content‑based distinctions and by including clearer intent and measurement methods. The administration plans to introduce the ordinance formally; the presentation at the work session was a preview to allow council members to raise questions before the public hearing.

Next steps: staff will prepare the formal bill for introduction and a user guide with visuals to accompany the ordinance when it reaches a council docket for public hearing.