sign regulations recommendations · signs, festoons and inflatable signs special business promotion...
TRANSCRIPT
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Sign RegulationsRecommendations
January 23, 2014
City of Duluth Unified Development Code
Agenda
Approach: Results Adjustments for Freestanding Signs Electronic Changeable Copy Signs Billboards Downtown Flags Holiday and Seasonal Decorations Temporary Event Signs Master Sign Plans
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Approach
Basically keep (or improve on) current restrictions for “normal” situations and address special cases for particular areas or properties. Generally …
• Business property with 1 or 2 occupants:– 1 freestanding monument sign 8’ h x 50 s.f.; corner lot
1/frontage 12’ h x collectively 100 s.f. sign face.
– Principal wall sign 1/façade, 2 s.f. per lineal foot (l.f.).
• Multiple tenants:– 1 freestanding monument sign per frontage, 1 s.f. per 1
l.f. of frontage, up to max 20’ h and 150 s.f. sign face.
– 1 principal wall sign/tenant, 2 s.f. per l.f. of storefront.
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Recommended Results
Freestanding Signs – larger sizes and heights for special circumstances.
Building Signs – Greater flexibility, allowed on all walls, sign sizes related to wall length or size.
Downtown – Address recommendations from Morris and Fellows plan.
Miscellaneous Signs – Reduce front yard clutter with focus on building signs and side/rear yards.
Streamline permitting with Master Sign Plans.
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Items to discuss
Should max sign size be related to adjacent road classification?
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Items to discuss
Should maximum sign size be related to distance from travel lane (e.g., back of curb)?
Closer to street Farther away
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Items to discuss
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Should sign regulations be related to specific Comprehensive Plan “character areas”?
Recommended Adjustments: Freestanding Signs
All properties to meet current (basic) sign regs
Adjustment if on Major Roadway• Peachtree Industrial, Buford Highway, SR 120,
Pleasant Hill
• Increase in sign face area and height based on speed limit.
Adjustment if in Community Activity Center area• Increase in sign face area and height
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Maximum Freestanding Sign Sizes with Adjustments
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Recommendations: Signs on a Building
All principal building signs treated collectively (wall, canopy, projecting, etc.). Any combination allowed within the overall size limitation per wall.
Principal building signs allowed on all walls.
Maximum area of principal signs – 2 sf per lf of wall, or 20% of wall, whichever is greater.
Subtenant wall sign (1) allowed.
Changeable copy on wall – manual only.
Illumination (with some restrictions) allowed.
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Items to discuss
Electronic Changeable Copy Signs (LED signs) • Location, spacing, size? • When in lieu of principal monument sign(s) on a
property – what rules to apply? • What other types of LED signs should or should not
be allowed?
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Recommendations: Electronic Changeable Copy
Electronic Changeable Copy Signs allowed as all or part of a sign face on:• Any principal freestanding sign for a nonresidential
use.
• As a wall sign on a downtown building (1 per building).
Not allowed on a billboard.
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Recommendations: Electronic Changeable Copy
Standards for Electronic Changeable Copy Signs relate to:• Static display only (no movies or video)
• Message held for 8 sec; instantaneous changes.
• Maximum light levels to ambient light established; must adjust as ambient light changes (i.e., day-night).
• Failsafe device: brightness drops to lowest level allowed.
• Permit application must include certification by installer that sign meets standards.
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Items to discuss
Billboards. Monument sign on a vacant property, max. 30 sf.
• Allow LED signs?
• Apply Georgia DOT standards as to spacing,
and
• allow location only along State/US highways? Major thoroughfares?
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Pertinent DOT Provisions
• Must be located on property zoned commercial or industrial.
• Applies within 660’ of highway.• Minimum spacing 100’ from
another sign (500’ from public park, playground, etc), UNLESS
• LED signs must be 5000’ apart on same side of highway.
• LED messages must be held for min. 10 seconds. Static – no video allowed.
• Local governments can be more restrictive.
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Recommendations: Billboards
All current requirements retained.• Allowed on vacant properties zoned M-1 or M-2 only.
• Must be a monument sign, max. 50 sf and 12 feet h.
• No closer that 1000 feet of another billboard on same side of road, or 500 feet in any direction; or 500 feet from a residence, church, school, park or cemetery.
Added conformance required to Georgia Outdoor Advertising Act along US and State numbered highways (Buford Highway and SR 120).
Items to discuss
Downtown. • Relax standards to create a more exciting
environment (neon?) and diversity?
• Streamline sign review and approval process?
• Eliminate separate overview and redundant bureaucracy?
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Recommendations: Downtown
Signs in the CBD to be handled as “adjustments” to basic sign requirements.• Historic pole signs still allowed.
• Wall and projecting signs may extend above the wall or the eave of the roof – max ½ of sign height.
• One building sign may be an electronic changeable copy sign (eg., LED) or a neon sign.
• Window signs may cover 75% (as now); Neon signs allowed in window.
• A-frame/sidewalk signs still allowed.
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Items to discuss
Flags. By definition: non-commercial speech (versus “banners”).
• Exempt all (as now)? Regulate?
• Require that the US flag be flown in accordance with the congressional standards?
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Recommendations: Flags
Minimum clearance: 8 feet (on flagpole or projecting from a building).
Residential: Max. size 15 sf, 40 feet high.
Nonresidential: Max. 3 flags, 3 flagpoles.
Display of the American Flag to be guided by the US Code, which prohibits use for commercial purposes.
PS: Display during holidays or seasonal events would be exempt as “personal speech”.
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Items to discuss
“Seasonal and holiday” signs. • Exempt entirely or allow as temporary event signage?
• Restrictions? Strings of lights? Flashing? Neon?
• Residential versus nonresidential properties?
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Recommendations: Seasonal and Holiday Signs
Define “holiday or seasonal event”:A day established as a legal holiday by federal, state or local law; a nationally recognized holiday such as Halloween or Mother’s Day; a nationally recognized calendar season such as Fall or Spring; a religious day such as Easter, Yom Kippur or Christmas, or term of days such as Lent, Ramadan or Hanukah.
Exempt all holiday and seasonal decorations that are “personal speech” placed by owner.
Holiday and seasonal decorations and signs that are commercial in nature handled as a temporary business promotional event (a sale).
Business promotional events allowed for any period during October-November-December; 1 30-day period during other quarters of the year.
Items to discuss
Temporary signs: Relate to temporary events.• The offering of a property for sale or rent.• The construction of a development project.• “Pre-permanent” signage.• A “grand opening” of a new business.• A special business promotion.• A yard sale.• A public announcement of a special event.• An election, political campaign, referendum or ballot
proposition.
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Recommendations: Temporary Signs
Type of Temporary EventDuration
Number Allowed on the Property Event Starts Event Ends
Sale or Lease of a Building or Premises
When put on the marketWithin 7 days of closing of sale or execution of lease
1 freestanding per property, 1 building sign per tenant space, 1 per subdivision
entrance
Building Construction or Remodeling
Issuance of building permitWithin 7 days of issuance of
Certificate of Occupancy1 on the construction site
Subdivision or Condominium Project Under Development
Preliminary plat or Site Plan approval
Sale of 95% of lots or buildings, or 12 months of no
building permits
1 per entrance into the subdivision or development, or 1 per 300 feet of frontage
Pre-Permanent SignageIssuance of Certificate of
Occupancy
When permanent signage installed or 6 months, whichever occurs first
Same as number of permanent signs
Grand Opening
Placement of grand opening event signs (within 6 months of issuance of Certificate of
Occupancy)
End of sale or 30 days, whichever occurs first
5 including banners, portable signs, festoons and inflatable
signs
Special Business PromotionAnnouncement of special sale
or sale eventEnd of sale (see text for
duration of sales)
5 including banners, portable signs, festoons and inflatable
signs
Yard Sale2 days prior to announced
date of saleAt the end of the sale 1 on yard sale site
Election or Political CampaignsOpening day of qualification of
candidatesWithin 10 days after election
completeNo limit
Public Announcement Upon placement of the signSign removed within 30 days
of placement1
Other Temporary EventsAs determined by Planning
DirectorAs determined by Planning
Director1
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Recommendations: Master Sign Plans
Shows design of all permanent signs proposed on a property: sizes, materials, styles, etc.
Approval required by Planning Commission if modifications to regulations requested.
Expedites issuance of permits for individual signs on the property (max. 5 days).
Recorded and included in any sale or lease.
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Your Thoughts
Send your follow-up thoughts on the sign standards to Bill Ross and Rich Atkinson at:
and
by February 10
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