Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the General Advertising Program topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission backs sign‑program ordinance after industry concerns about fees and definitions
Summary
The commission voted to request the Board of Supervisors adopt amendments clarifying the general advertising program, deposit of enforcement revenues and a maintenance/ inventory fee; industry representatives raised concerns about owner/operator ambiguity and a $643 inventory‑update fee that staff said reflects planner hours.
The Planning Commission voted Aug. 6 to send a resolution urging the Board of Supervisors to adopt amendments to the administrative code and planning code that update the general advertising sign program, clarify allowable deposits of code‑enforcement revenues and reaffirm a longstanding inventory‑update fee.
Elaine Forbes of the Department of Planning explained changes that would permit penalties and fines from code enforcement to be deposited to the code‑enforcement account for signage enforcement, direct a sunset of a maintenance fee increase after FY 2010‑11 and clarify sign definitions and owner/operator roles. The department said the general advertising sign fee program is fee‑for‑service and that the revenue will be reported annually and used only for sign‑program activities.
Representatives of CBS Outdoor and Clear Channel raised two main objections: first, that the ordinance language should be clearer about whether the operator or the property owner is responsible for inventory and fees, and second, that an inventory‑update fee (listed at $643) seemed excessive without a detailed nexus demonstrating the cost. Staff replied the $643 is an established fee intended to cover about 3.5 hours of planner time to update the inventory and perform site checks, and said staff does not intend to use general advertising fees for unrelated departmental functions.
After discussion the commission adopted the staff recommendation to urge the Board to adopt the ordinance with the clarifying edits the department had already negotiated; the roll‑call vote was unanimous.
