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Aberdeen adopts revised freestanding sign rules, standardizing heights and requiring landscaping
Summary
The Town of Aberdeen approved TA-24-05 to simplify freestanding sign rules: consistent base landscaping (50 sq ft with evergreen and perennial mix) and a framework allowing some pole/pylon signs up to 20 feet with base of signboard at 10 feet; planning staff cited state statute 160D-912.1 regarding relocated signs.
The Town of Aberdeen voted to adopt text amendment TA-24-05, revising the Unified Development Ordinance section on freestanding signage to simplify height rules and add consistent landscaping requirements at sign bases.
Planning staff walked the board through the history of the change: before the 2020 UDO many business signs had 20-foot heights, while the current ordinance linked sign heights to zoning districts and produced inconsistent heights along corridors. The draft amendment ultimately proposed uniform landscaping (50 square feet at the base of permanent freestanding signs, 50% evergreen and 50% perennials) and a set of height rules that distinguish monument signs (max 10 feet) from pole/pylon signs (base of the signboard set at 10 feet with an overall maximum up to 20 feet for some sign types), with larger retail-center and business-complex signs retaining separate square-foot allowances.
Staff also explained a state statute (identified in the transcript as 160D-912.1) that allows a lawfully erected on-premise advertising sign to be relocated within the same parcel without increasing total advertising surface area and while complying with the ordinance that applied when the sign was erected. That statutory change informed staff's recommendation about how to treat legally nonconforming existing signs that might be relocated or reconstructed.
The planning board recommended approval after several iterations; commissioners discussed whether 10 or 20 foot heights were most appropriate for Aberdeen's commercial corridors before moving to adopt the staff-drafted consistency-and-reasonableness statement and approve TA-24-05. The board also clarified that new signs must meet the updated requirements and that relocated or reconstructed lawful nonconforming signs may be restored to their prior height under the statute so long as surface area is not increased and landscaping is provided.
What's next: The town will incorporate the revised UDO provisions into the ordinance and require landscaping at new freestanding signs. Staff will apply guidance for relocated/reconstructed signs consistent with state statute and will ask applicants for evidence of prior heights when needed.
Key excerpts from the ordinance as described at the hearing: monument signs shall not exceed 10 feet in height; pole/pylon signs must have the bottom of the signboard at 10 feet above grade and can reach up to 20 feet overall for specified sign types; base landscaping of 50 square feet is required, with 50% evergreen and 50% perennials.
