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Dubuque council shortens billboard moratorium timeline, sets Sept. 21 deadline for billboard-specific rules
Summary
Council extended and amended the temporary moratorium on off-premise sign permits and directed staff to pursue a faster, billboard-specific text amendment with a target return to council by the Sept. 21, 2026 meeting; council voted 7–0 to adopt the amended moratorium and waive additional readings.
City planners and council members debated the scope and timing of an existing moratorium on off-premise sign permits during the June 15 meeting, and council voted to amend the moratorium timetable to Sept. 21, 2026 to allow staff and a consultant to draft billboard-specific revisions to the unified development code sooner than previously scheduled.
Planning Services Director Wally Wernimont said the full rewrite of the sign ordinance is comprehensive, but staff could accelerate just the billboard (off-premise) portion for public engagement and a text amendment: “we could take that specific portion through, we would amend it for the current unified development code and then we would just incorporate those regulations in the total update.”
Councilmember Chris Staver pressed staff to move more quickly so the industry is not held up; others sought a short cushion to allow public engagement and Zoning Advisory Commission hearings. Councilmember Laura Roussell moved to set a new moratorium expiration date of Sept. 21, 2026 and to suspend the requirement for two prior council readings so the amendment could proceed; council adopted the motion 7–0.
Wernimont outlined an accelerated schedule: staff engagement with sign contractors and the public, a Zoning Advisory Commission public hearing in August, and a second council meeting in August or the first meeting in September depending on schedule, targeting final council action by Sept. 21. City Attorney Crenna Brumwell noted the city could adopt the moratorium ordinance and repeal it when the new rules are ready to avoid a gap.
