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Staff presents sign-code update proposal and attendance-rule change at New Albany BZA workshop
Summary
City planning staff presented proposed sign-code revisions — including a 200-square-foot cap for large building wall signs and simplified rules on logos and signage per entrance — and discussed an attendance-rule amendment giving city council discretion to treat excused absences differently.
City planning staff used the BZA workshop to present proposed revisions to the commercial and warehousing sign code and to describe a separate update to board attendance rules.
On signage, staff said the code changes discussed in August have been revised: staff proposes keeping one sign per building entrance, capping permitted wall sign area at 200 square feet for large buildings (rather than a tiered 1% rule tied to a 150,000-square-foot threshold), and removing an explicit logo exception while continuing to interpret logos as allowed to exceed a 36-inch lettering-height limit. Staff said the revisions aim to simplify administration and reduce the number of variances for multi-tenant, large-footprint warehouses common in Licking County.
"We decided to cap that at 200 based on research and past variance requests," a staff member said in the workshop. Staff cited prior large approvals — including an Amazon sign at 297 square feet and an Amplify Bio sign at 215 square feet — as context for the rewrite. Staff also told the board it will track variance history and include comparison data in future staff reports to help BZA members maintain consistency.
On procedural rules, staff described an amendment to CO 15.02(d) to give city council discretion when determining whether repeated absences constitute forfeiture of an appointment. Under the revised wording, council could consider whether absences are excused (for illness, injury, or emergency) rather than applying an automatic forfeiture after a numeric threshold of absences.
Staff outlined next steps: after the workshop the planning commission will perform a formal review and, if it recommends approval, the code update would advance to city council for two readings and a 30-day referendum period before taking effect.
The workshop discussion was largely informational; staff asked for board feedback and said the revisions would be refined as more variance data and cross-board feedback are incorporated.
