CCP 06-26-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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On March 13th, 2006, the City Council adopted a sign moratorium to allow time to remove potential constitutional issues without the pressure of facing a costly lawsuit. . The Plallliing Commission reviewed the proposed Sign Code at their June 7th, 2006, meeting. Since the meeting was not a public hearing, an official motion was not made. Nevertheless, the entire Sign Code was reviewed and public comment was accepted. Most of the Plallliing Commission discussion focused on the proposal to move the sign regulations from the Zoning Ordinance to the City Code and how to deal with temporary off-premise signs. Discussion Although the primary reason for this updating process was to remove language related to content based regulation, a definitions section was added, ambiguous portions of the regulations were clarified, and the most recent State Statutes regarding non-conforming signs were incorporated into the regulations. Except for the proposed provisions regarding temporary off-premise signs, this updating process did not ineludc a comprehensive evaluation of the permitted sign sizes or types in the old Sign Ordinance. Changing the permitted sign areas or types would require a separate review process and active citizen input. Due to the significant reorganization of the sign regulations, it is not possible to have the old Sign Ordinance and the new Sign Code on the same document. To help aid the comparison between the old Sign Ordinance and the new Sign Code, both documents are attached to this report. The noteworthy portions that were added or modified in the new Sign Code are highlighted. The portions of the old Sign Ordinance that were removed are also highlighted. . What can be regulated? While regulating content is generally prohibited, a city can regulate the type, size, lighting, height, color, location, and other impacts of a sign. There are a handful of sign regulations set by Millliesota State Statutes that must be followed, including provisions regarding non-commercial signs during general election years and signs banning guns. Sign Ordinance -7 Sign Code Based on a recommendation from the City Attorney, Staff is proposing to move the sign regulations from an attachment in the Zoning Ordinance to a new chapter in the City Code. Currently, the City has a number of free-standing ordinances that were passed but never fully incorporated into the Zoning Ordinance or the City Code, one of which is the Sign Ordinance. As time allows, a number of the free standing ordinances (erosion control, adult uses, message therapy, etc) will likely be proposed to be moved to the City Code or to a chapter of the Zoning Ordinance. This is being done so that the City has one convenient and standardized book with all City regulations. As it is, many of these free- \\Metro~inet.us\ardcnhi]]s\Planning\Planning Cases\2006\06-D14 Sign Code (PENDrNU)\062006 - CC report - sign ordinancc.doc . Page 2 of 5