Planners want more time on revised sign ordinance

By Steve Estes

Proposed changes to the county’s sign rules will wait at least another two weeks for planning commission blessing.

The commission Wednesday listened as staff and local business owners chimes in on a proposal that addresses additional usage of A-frame or sandwich board signs to attract customers.

The proposal also allows for more leeway in off-premise signs that identify businesses with direct access off US 1 provided an already established commercial entity is willing to give up part of its signage allotment for the purpose.

The rework of sign rules was mandated by the county commission in January after local business owners complained to the Board of County Commissioners that they had been placed at a disadvantage in competing for highway travelers by the current rules, written in 1991.

In December of 2008 code enforcement officers did a compliance sweep mostly through the highway right-of-way areas on US 1 and issued 150 notices of violation, mostly sign related.

That earned the displeasure of several members of the business community who petitioned the BOCC to take a look at the regulations and try to provide some relief for small business owners currently hit hard by the downturn in the national, global and local economy.

The BOCC agreed to suspend enforcement of those violations through code enforcement actions that weren’t violations as a result of unpermitted permanent signage or unsafe signage. If the revisions bring the violations into compliance, the code enforcement actions will be dismissed.

Staff began working on the revisions in May, hosting three public meetings for input, then offered revisions in the areas of sandwich boards and off-premise signs to meet the BOCC’s directive.

Wednesday’s planning commission was the first public hearing on the new proposal, and commissioners agreed the revisions don’t go far enough and leave too many unanswered questions for approval right now.

“The primary complaints we got were about the unfairness of the width of the US 1 right-of-way in the Lower Keys and sandwich board use,” said Steven Biel, planner. “On Stock Island it was mostly off-premise signs and in the Upper Keys it was questions about sign illumination and use of sandwich boards.”

“What we have done here is clarify certain areas of the sign ordinance and permit some previously unpermitted uses,” said Senior Director of Planning Townsley Schwab. “We have clarified the definition of portable, clarified the use of portable signs and clarified the rules regarding off-premise signs and vehicle signs.”

Current rules don’t allow for portable signs at all.

The new proposal allows the use of one sandwich board sign per commercial property frontage. It must be on private property and can’t be larger than six square feet. They can’t be more than three feet high, must be portable, must be removed after business hours and must be stored inside during storm events. No portable signs are permitted on the US 1 right-of-way.

That lacks an element of fairness for commercial properties where more than one business exists along the same frontage, said Planning Commissioner Jim Cameron.

“What are they supposed to do, swap out who gets to use the sign?” he asked.

Schwab said that was one of the issues staff hadn’t yet had time to deal with thoroughly.

“This is still a work in progress. There are areas we need to address and we will get into those other issues,” said Schwab. “And we will get into more particulars.”

One of the issues Schwab said staff will study in the coming months is the width of right-of-way differences between areas of the Keys.

“In Tavernier there is a very narrow right-of-way. You have the travel lane, the bike lane and the business. You wind up having signs very close to the road and it’s easier for motorists to see them and take advantage of their message,” said Schwab. “On Big Pine Key, the right-of-way might be 50 feet off the road which affects the driver’s ability to read the sign, even to see it in some cases, so we wind up with more simple signs for that reason.”

There are also areas where vacant lots close by have vegetation blocking the view of signs already in existence, particularly in those areas where the right-of-way goes right up to the front door of a commercial enterprise, as is the case with Marnie Brown, owner of Good Food Conspiracy on Big Pine.

“I can’t have anything in front of my business. It’s all right-of-way,” said Brown.

The Florida Department of Transportation regulates the right-of-way along US 1 and does not allow commercial signage there.

“We have no control over DOT rules,” said Schwab.

“This is a very broad issue,” he said. “Signage is a major element that can help define a community. To thoroughly address all the issues of a sign ordinance, in the time frame we have, is very complex.”

Commissioners asked that staff take a look at the proposed size of sandwich boards to be allowed.

A six-square-foot sign would be nearly impossible for most motorists to see passing by at 45 or 55 miles per hour, particularly in the Lower Keys where right-of-way widths can approach 100 feet from the center line of US 1.

Schwab promised that staff would look at issues surrounding multi-unit commercial properties and differing right-of-way widths before the measure comes back to the planning commission July 8 in Marathon.

Staff wants to have something on the agenda for the BOCC to look at in July.

Legal advisors said that asking the county commission to extend the suspension period for enforcement might get tricky past the six months already given, even though the BOCC’s direction was six months or until a new sign ordinance is approved for local businesses.