12-17-07 Item 1A Sign Code - Laserfiche WebLink

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,/ that because of their unique nature, allowing only time and temp displays is not a prohibited content-based regulation. It is important not to overstate this, however. Regulations that go further and carve out a broader exception for "public information" are likely to be struck down as impermissibly content-based. Sign regulations that are not content based are subject to intermediate scrutiny, which tests whether the regulation is substantially related to a significant government interest. This roughly translates to "regulate for a good reason." Cities should take care that the scope of the regulation is not excessive when viewed in light of all of the regulatory objectives, and that they do not create exceptions to the regulations that cannot be justified by reference to one or more of the city's articulated objectives Big-picture regulatory tools The available research on traffic impacts supports significant content-neutral limits or even bans on dynamic signs for safety reasons. The studies confIrm that billboards can tend to distract drivers, dynamic features contribute to the distraction, and even short distractions can increase the risk of accidents. This is not surprising as promotional materials put out by sign companies themselves boast the signs' ability to hold viewer attention as a benefit of dynamic signs. Safety is only one concern. Cities may also regulate signs based on values, preferences, and aesthetics. Not every sign is appropriate in every community or every neighborhood. Not every community wishes to become Las Vegas or even downtown Minneapolis. Cities can take a number of different macro-level approaches to regulation. Some examples include: I. Complete or near-complete bans that do not allow dynamic signs at all. 2. Allow dynamic signs with restrictions such as minimum display time, allowing only a percentage of a sign to change, or text size limitations. 3. Allow different things in different zoning districts, such as allowing brighter dynamic signs in a downtown business district than in residential neighborhoods. 4. Offering incentive programs to billboard companies to allow dynamic signs in exchange for removal of non-conforming static signs. 5. Encourage dynamic displays. Some communities like the clean, new look of dynamic signs and encourage them to remove old blighted and poorly maintained signs. Regulating sign aspects A content-neutral regulation that regulates dynamic signage will be subject to intermediate scrutiny, so a community must show a regulation is substantially related to a significant government interest. In plain language, you must articulate what problem a regulation is intended to address and how the regulation addresses it. There are at least six aspects of dynamic signs that regulations may address: 1. Duration of messages/ speed of changeover. Studies have described the Zeigarnik effect, a psychological need to see a task through to its end. In the case of dynamic signs, a driver's desire to read an entire message before it changes or to complete a scrolling message has been shown to 2