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Council directs staff to bring right‑of‑way temporary sign code edits to first reading before election season
Summary
Staff recommended updating the sign definition so city can regulate temporary signs in the right of way ahead of elections; council directed staff to pursue right‑of‑way changes now and defer private‑property sign regulation because of enforcement workload concerns.
Community Development Director Eric Baker asked council to consider code changes to the temporary sign regulations so the city could enforce limits on political and other temporary signs in public rights of way ahead of an upcoming election season.
Baker said the planning commission recommended code edits to fix legal ambiguities in the sign definition and the temporary‑sign area definitions. He told council that if the city revises the sign definition to capture all temporary signs in the right of way, staff could enforce placement limits on a map of designated intersections rather than rely on content‑based rules, which the law forbids.
Council members debated whether to extend the changes to signs on private property; several members urged caution because enforcement on private property would increase staff workload and raise legal complexity. Multiple council members and staff favored limiting the immediate action to right‑of‑way signs so the city could act more quickly for the upcoming election season.
Council directed staff to move the planning commission’s recommended right‑of‑way sign definition revisions to first reading and to return with ordinance language. Director Baker said staff could prepare the ordinance promptly and also provide the full code text for review.
