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Council reviews downtown sign rule and storage-site limits; rezoning also on agenda
Summary
City staff presented three planning items at the Sept. 29 study session: a rezoning (Ordinance 2025-16) to add parking near Parcel K, a sign-code text amendment to allow halo/backlit signs in DTMU1/2 (Ordinance 2025-17), and a text amendment to limit self-storage uses to industrial zones (Ordinance 2025-18). Planning commission recommended the sign and storage changes.
City Administrator Jim Clifford briefed the council on multiple Planning & Development items at the Sept. 29 study session.
Ordinance 2025‑16 (second reading) would rezone roughly 0.4 acres owned by HF to Diverse LLC from PD to DTMU2 to permit a small parking arrangement adjacent to Parcel K in Riverside Village; Clifford said a diagram was provided at the prior meeting and staff paused for council questions.
On signage, staff presented Ordinance 2025‑17 (first reading), a text amendment to Article 9 and Appendix A to define and permit halo/backlit signage in the downtown mixed-use districts (DTMU1 and DTMU2) while maintaining a prohibition on neon signage. Clifford said the change responds to business requests (including for Augusta Oncology), that the planning commission unanimously recommended the amendment on Sept. 17 after technical presentations from sign manufacturers, and that the administration intends a proof-of-concept limited to the downtown zones.
Councilmembers and residents debated aesthetic and nuisance concerns: some members favored halo signs for downtown placemaking, while residents and others asked about light intrusion for nearby homes and whether similar signs would be permitted outside downtown without separate BZA approval. Clifford and staff explained that halo/backlit signs would be allowed by right only in the DTMU districts; outside those districts businesses would need to seek BZA variances.
On land use, Ordinance 2025‑18 (first reading) would amend Table 5.1 to restrict self-storage and mini-warehouse uses to industrial zones as a conditional use. Staff said this change follows two recent applications at/near Exit 5 (an Old Kmart site and a site behind a QT) and the planning commission’s unanimous recommendation to limit such facilities to industrial areas.
Next steps: the planning items will proceed through the council ordinance-reading process; staff indicated they will refine materials as needed between now and hearings.
