West Haven council approves tougher sign rules for large retail centers, eases size limits in exchange for fewer signs

West Haven Mayor Rob Vanderwood and city councilors on March 4 approved Ordinance 08-2026, a rewrite of the city's sign regulations that creates a new "planned commercial center" standard allowing fewer but larger signs for multi-tenant developments.

Community Development Director Steven Nelson told the council the change responds to inquiries from large retailers, including Walmart, and aims to reduce visual clutter by consolidating tenant identification into master signage at key access points. Nelson said the revised code sets a 10-acre threshold for a planned commercial center, requires an owner-signed signage map and master plan, and restricts off-premise advertising to businesses located within the center.

The ordinance raises some dimensional limits: monument sign faces would be allowed up to 120 square feet, and pole ("pull") signs could have sign faces up to 200 square feet (the city may approve up to 250 square feet if the sign includes language stating "West Haven"). The proposal also raised pole sign heights from 25 to 30 feet and eliminated the prior 10-foot ground clearance requirement for those signs.

To prevent taller signs from becoming nuisances, the council included an enforcement provision requiring damaged signs to be repaired after a city notice within 30 days (with staff discretion to allow additional time); failing to comply can result in charges under section 157.761 (a class C misdemeanor). Staff also added stricter language addressing illegally placed signs in the right-of-way and repeat offenders.

Nelson summarized written feedback: Kimble Investments requested much larger maximums (300 sq ft and 65 ft tall) to satisfy anchor-tenant demands, and the Utah Sign Association submitted supportive suggestions. The planning commission reviewed those comments but declined to recommend the larger corporate requests.

Council members pressed staff to clarify measurement language (whether square-foot limits apply only to the sign face or to the full decorative structure), to tighten wording so only businesses physically located within a center may appear on the center's signage, and to require language on signs identifying the city (e.g., "West Haven"). Nelson said staff will make the drafting clarifications but did not postpone final approval; council voted to adopt the ordinance with the discussed edits.

The ordinance passed by roll call with Council Members Dixon, Morris, Saunders, Schwab and Call recorded in favor. Staff said finalized ordinance language reflecting the clarifications will be returned as needed for implementation.