2000-08-01 P & Z Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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. right-of-way approach. 2. a zoning land use approach. 3. an approach by individual type of business establishment. There is no code in North America that is solely exclusionary in opting for one of these philosophies regulating either on premise or off premise signage. This Code Is predominantly a combination of a right-at-way code and a zoning approacn. It does not in any place regulate by type of business establishment. For example, service stations are not treated separately from fast food franchisers or Industrial buildings. We believe that the establishment type of approach tends to be discriminafory. For example, an independent fast food merchant with an op- eration similar to that of MacDonalds might need a totally different type of signage from that of MacDonalds because the latter are part of a large marketing network where the signage can be backed up with an intensive program of advertising in other media. The independent merchant on the other hand can- not afford to buy city-wide coverage of other advertising for his single establishment and must rely more heavjly on either on premis6 signage or directional off premise signage. Similarly, an independent neighborhood serv- ice station has vastly different requirements from a freeway orientated outlet of a national chain. It is our opinion, therefore, that in ad- dition to the danger of discrimination, the es- tablishment type approach would in the long run be less than beneficial to a community. We have used the approach of zoning or tying signs to a particular land use, while basically considering the right-at-way ele- ments, such as speed of traffic, distance and setbacks. It will be noted that this Code deals with all types of sign age, visible from the public rights- of-way. This is essential, as experience in many communities has proven, any code which controls, licences and provides for inspection of some sections of the sign industry with less control over others, will result in the prolifera- tion of that which is least controlled, very often resulting in a more cluttered and undesirable situation than that which it was attempting to correct. It is an unfortunate fact that a great deal of legislation often limits the large illum- inated product produced by the more profes- sional or sophisticated companies, with the result that an advertiser utilizes an ever larger number of those sign units which are not properly controlled, even to the inclusion of homemade devices. Signs are recognized as an essential com- munication medium which is absolutely essential to the travelling public and in par- ticular to newcomers and visitors to any com- munity. They are frequently the only means by which an individual can locate the goods or services that he requires. We have recognized that not only are there differences in terminology between countries, but even in different areas within the same country. We have noted examples where even reasonably adjacent cities will in one case use a term like "ground sign," another will use "freestanding sign," and yet another will use "detached sign." We have attempted to cover the various alternatives in the defini- tions, to select throughout the work that term that we believe will be most universally under- stood. There is much that any advertiser can do voluntarily to visually improve his premises, his image and, therefore, his community. Believing that inducement is much more pal- atable than compulsion, we have introduced the innovative use of bon using in this pro- posed Code, where, for instance, an adver- tiser can have a larger copy area on one given type of signage if he foregoes other signs, or whereby an advertiser can be permitted a somewhat greater area or height on a free- standing or ground sign if he will tastefully landscape the area in which it is installed and maintain such landscaping. We have attempted to compile this work in the best interest of our communities, our cus- tomers and our industry. We sincerely hope that this Code will make a substantial contri- bution to better quality signs and to more uniformity of controls throughout the country. PERMISSION IS HEREBY GIVEN TO ANY GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY TO COPY OR DUPLICATE THIS DOCUMENT IN WHOLE OR IN PART. OUR PRINTERS HAVE BEEN AU- THORIZED TO USE ANY OF OUR PLATES OR MATERIALS FOR THE BENEFIT OF ANY SUCH AUTHORITY DESIRING TO PUBLISH THEM. .,