Planning commission sends revised sign ordinance to City Council after edits on temporary signs

River Heights’ Planning & Zoning Commission agreed Feb. 10 to send a revised draft of the city’s sign ordinance to the City Council after making several clarifying edits.

Commissioners focused on simplifying language and narrowing the ordinance to regulate timing, size and placement rather than content. The draft will remove the word “portable” where it duplicated “temporary,” and will replace a proposed requirement that temporary signs be removed “by sundown” with a provision requiring removal within 24 hours after an event’s end.

Members also discussed placement limits for real-estate and other temporary signs, noting the draft continues to permit temporary signs on private property but not in the paved portion of streets or on sidewalks. Commissioners said enforcement is expected to be complaint-driven: if a sign is alleged to be out of compliance, coded enforcement or the City Council would resolve the specific case.

The commission discussed—but did not adopt—additional restrictions for signs mounted on structures versus yard-mounted signs, and asked staff to add a clause to the temporary-sign location language making clear the term includes signs mounted to structures on private property. Commissioners reiterated the city cannot lawfully restrict the content of signs and that the ordinance should remain content-neutral.

A motion to forward the ordinance with the edits discussed was made, seconded and carried by voice vote; the draft will now go to the City Council for review.

Next steps: staff will update the ordinance text to remove redundant language, implement the 24-hour removal timing, add the structure-mounted clarification, and submit the revised draft to the City Council.