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ARDEN HILLS PLANNING COMMISSION – February 7, 2018 10 City Planner Bachler explained staff is recommending minor changes to what is allowed for freestanding signage. The City has received fewer requests for additional freestanding sign area or height as compared to requests for additional wall signage. Where additional height or copy area is needed for a freestanding sign, property owners can still request flexibility through the sign standard adjustment process. Generally, the changes that were made would increase the amount of sign copy area in industrial districts to 80 square feet (currently most industrial properties are allowed 25 or 45 square feet), and allow for additional sign copy and height for properties with highway frontage. City Planner Bachler reported dynamic display refers to signs that use technologies such as LCD or LED to display content including videos, digital images, or text. He explained dynamic display signs are currently prohibited in the City. In the past, staff has interpreted digital display to refer to a sign with any type of digital content, including weather data and gas prices. At the Planning Commission meeting on February 8, 2017, commissioners expressed an interest in allowing for certain types of dynamic display signs if standards were put in place to ensure quality and to reduce distraction to drivers. Staff reviewed standards adopted by Roseville, New Brighton, Shoreview, and Mounds View for dynamic display signs and has summarized the main types of standards below. Based on Planning Commission feedback on this item, additional work would need to be completed on possible standards for dynamic display signs. Duration and Transition The City can regulate how long a sign image is displayed for before there is a transition to another image. This would ensure that video or a rapid sequence of images were not used that could cause distraction. Roseville requires a minimum duration of 25 seconds and the three other communities require a minimum of 8 seconds. The transition between images could be required to be instantaneous. Transitions that include fading, dissolving, scrolling, traveling, or any other illusion of movement could be prohibited. Brightness To reduce the visual impact of dynamic display signs at night, the City could consider setting maximum brightness levels. The unit for measuring the brightness of the face of a sign is a nit (candelas per square meter). Roseville has adopted a maximum illumination of 5,000 nits during daylight hours and 500 nits between dusk and dawn as measured from the sign’s face at maximum brightness. Roseville also requires that dynamic display signs include a dimmer control that automatically reduces the illumination level of the sign between one half-hour before sunset and one half-hour after sunrise. Sign Content The Sign Code currently prohibits outdoor advertising signs, which are signs that advertise a product, business, service, event, or any other matter that is not available or does not take place on the same premises as the sign. If dynamic display signs were permitted, the messages displayed would be required to be for products and services offered on the property. An exception could be time and temperature display signs. Size The area of a dynamic display sign would be included in the maximum sign area permitted for the sign type. The City could place limits on how much of a sign area could be comprised of