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Committee member asks for permit option to let Gunter home-based businesses post signs
Summary
A committee member asked the governing body to consider revising the sign ordinance so home-based and online businesses can place permitted signs on private property or designated locations; staff will research ordinance language, limits (examples cited: 15 signs), and enforcement measures.
A committee member raised a proposal to revise Gunter's sign ordinance so local businesses that do not operate from a storefront could place permitted signs in specified locations to advertise their services. The member said the change would help entrepreneurs such as bakers, lawn-mowing and pest-control services, and other home-based LLCs that pay local taxes but cannot currently use visible signage. "Is there a way that we can maybe have, like, a permit for some businesses that don't have brick and mortar that can you can put your signs some certain places out there," the committee member asked.
Staff and other participants responded with legal and practical constraints, saying signs on private property require the property owner's permission and that placing signs solely on public rights-of-way is not allowed. A staff member noted the distinction between a home occupation and a brick-and-mortar point of sale, and cautioned that ordinance material requirements and sign standards (frames, bases and similar construction standards) affect what can be permitted. "If they get permission from the property that they're located on because it can't be only public properties or right of ways," the staff member said.
The discussion also touched on enforcement and nuisance concerns. Speakers referenced existing provisions in the sign ordinance that could allow novel or temporary signage under limited conditions, and said some signs already placed without permission have been removed by municipal enforcement. Participants suggested numeric limits per business and per corridor to avoid a proliferation of small temporary signs; one speaker proposed a cap (for example, 15 signs) as a potential starting point for rule design.
The governing body did not adopt any ordinance changes at the meeting. Instead, staff said they would research how other jurisdictions handle permits for home-based businesses and return with recommended language and suggested limits for the council to consider. The topic will be placed on a future agenda after staff provides examples and draft text.
