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Wheat Ridge to ease some local sign rules; staff to craft code mindful of First Amendment limits
Summary
Council gave staff consensus to advance local sign-code amendments that would add flexibility for wall signs, allow murals while avoiding content regulation, permit limited roof signs where needed, expand window-sign allowances, and clarify fixed-character changeable-copy signs; staff will draft defensible language considering Reed v. Gilbert constraints.
The Wheat Ridge City Council on Feb. 2 agreed to advance a package of local sign-code amendments intended to give businesses more flexibility while respecting free-speech legal constraints.
Staff said the proposals would allow wall signs to face internal public spaces where appropriate without increasing overall allowable square footage, permit painted murals without forcing staff to adjudicate content (in light of Reed v. Gilbert and subsequent case law), create limited allowances for legal nonconforming roof signs where no practical alternative exists, permit up to 25% window signage (with safety limits), and classify certain frequently changing numeric displays (time, temperature, gas prices) as fixed-character changeable copy rather than video screens.
City attorneys warned that rules must avoid content-based regulation; staff described several workarounds used by other cities, such as treating a mural as a wall sign for size accounting or removing content evaluation from the permitting step. Council asked staff to research legal defensibility and to draft code language that balances mural flexibility with constitutional constraints.
Council indicated consensus to move the five local-sign recommendations forward for formal code drafting and public hearings.
