Denison staff to send rewritten sign ordinance and sign-board proposal to City Council on Nov. 3

City planning staff told the Denison Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 14 that a comprehensive rewrite of Chapter 19, the city’s sign ordinance, will go before the City Council on Nov. 3 and would create a sign board to consider waivers that are now handled only as variances.

“We have been rewriting chapter 19, which pertains to signs,” a city staff member said, noting the ordinance had not been revised since 2013. The staff member said the rewrite is the second attempt to bring the ordinance to council and that it aims to modernize size limits, define when permits are required, and expand enforcement authority for dilapidated or obsolete signs.

Staff said the city’s legal team recommended creating a sign board whose membership would consist of planning and zoning commission members. The building official, identified in the discussion as Kirk, “will be the one that will determine if the applicant has met all of the requirements of that waiver, and then he will bring that forward to you,” the staff member said, describing an initial administrative screening before matters reach the commission.

Staff cautioned that the ordinance is lengthy and technical, in part because it includes graphics and specific dimensional tables, and that council may raise questions or request changes. The staff member said the item was tabled at the last council meeting and is scheduled to return on Nov. 3 for project update and direction.

The discussion was informational; no formal action on the ordinance occurred at the Oct. 14 commission meeting.