Council reviews rewritten sign and outdoor-advertising rules; staff will circulate prior industry feedback

Council and staff spent a focused portion of the June 16 work session on proposed sign and outdoor-advertising regulations that have been substantially rewritten and expanded from the existing code.

Consultant Cherylyn Egner and Development Services Director Patrick O’Brien said the new sign section is based on a version presented to the Planning Commission about three years ago. Ms. Egner offered to retrieve and circulate prior feedback from local sign companies so Council could reassess earlier concerns in light of the new consolidated code. Staff noted the current sign code is short and predates common electronic-display signs and that the proposed section includes more-detailed rules on image-change frequency, brightness, animation and potential dark-sky-oriented standards.

Council discussed policy trade-offs, including whether electronic displays should be dimmed after business hours, how to quantify acceptable brightness and animation, and the equity issue of grandfathering existing larger signs. Mr. O’Brien said some community standards limit visual prominence through down-directed lighting but cautioned that state law limits municipal control over some billboard relocations when redevelopment requires moving a sign.

Council asked staff to provide the prior sign-industry feedback and return with clearer recommendations for digital-sign limits and grandfathering approaches. No regulatory decisions were made at the work session.