Council affirms planning commission denial of Empower's request for 300‑sq‑ft electronic sign

The McMinnville City Council on its first reading voted 5–1 to affirm the planning commission’s denial of Empower USA’s land‑use request to install a 300‑square‑foot stand‑alone electronic changeable‑copy sign at 750 Southeast Booth Bend Road.

The hearing centered on whether the proposed sign meets the city code’s definition of a prohibited “video sign” or whether it could be treated as an electronic changeable‑copy (ECC) sign subject to an exception for size. Community Development Director Heather Richards told the council the planning commission concluded the display “has the capacity to be a video sign” — horizontal and vertical copy and continuously changing imagery — and therefore is prohibited under McMinnville code unless the applicant met the substantially higher Part C hardship test for prohibited signs.

Empower representatives said the sign would be operated only as static images and offered a suite of conditions they…