A-frames allowed with new permit

By Steve Estes

County staff is still recommending that the temporary allowance for the use of A-frame signs along US 1 be discontinued.

But the latest proposal states that permitted A-frame signs, provided they meet established criteria, will be allowed to continue past the proposed sunset date of the new sign ordinance.

In a recent roadside count, staff members said they counted 150 A-frame signs in use along US 1, with thus far less than 10 of them having applied for permits.

“Whether people didn’t realize they needed permits, or they just didn’t want to go to the expense only to lose them in a few months, we didn’t have the run on A-frame permits we expected,” said Joe Haberman, county planner.

County staff has been working on a new sign ordinance for more than two years. In December 2008, code enforcement officers did a compliance sweep and issued 150 notices of violation, mostly for sign violations. At that time, Monroe County did not allow the use of A-frame signs.

Following an uproar from local small business owners, however, the Board of County Commissioners implemented a temporary allowance for A-frame signs until a new sign ordinance was drafted and approved.

Supposed to run until June 2009 that A-frame allowance was extended until Dec. 31, 2011. And with that second extension ready to run out, staff brought out a new sign proposal a couple of months ago that recommended doing way with A-frame signs.

The reason given by local business owners for the use of A-frames is that many area of the Keys have wide rights-of-way on US 1, making it near impossible to get a sign large enough to be seen by passing motorists.

By being able to push A-frames to the extreme edge of the rights-of-way, owners felt they could get better response from passing motorists in a time when the economy was at its most sluggish.

In recent public meetings, business owners have still asked that the A-frame allowance be continued, and the latest proposal is a concession to that.

In the staff recommendation, it suggests that permitted A-frame signs be allowed to remain, but that all others would have to be removed, and those not removed could face code action.

The staff report also suggests that the rules on multi-tenant signs be relaxed to allow for more square footage than currently available for units with limited frontage and a high number of units.

The newest proposal also adds the possibility of increased sign footage for businesses that sit well off US 1 by implementing a letter-height formula based on distance from the travel lane and posted speed limit.

Staff made its newest proposal Wednesday to the county planning commission which agreed to hear the matter one more time in December before passing it off to the BOCC at the January meeting.

Planning Commissioner Jeb Hale said he could support the continued use of A-frame signs, but wondered if staff could delete the requirement for permits.

“The signs would have to meet certain regulatory requirements contained in the ordinance and just remain in place until no longer needed,” said Hale.

Current requirements limit the signs to three feet in width and four feet in height with six inch legs. They must be placed on private property because the state Department of Transportation doesn’t allow commercial signs on the US 1 right-of-way. They have to be taken in when the business is closed and whenever a storm warning is issued.

FDOT inspectors can, and have, physically removed A-frame signs from the state right-of-way in the past.

Commissioner Elizabeth Lustberg said she prefers the county get rid of A-frame signs from the inventory.

“If the business is so far back that regular signage won’t work anyway, the smaller A-frame isn’t going to do any good either,” she said.

Planners and county commissioners had feared a glut of A-frame signs when they approved the temporary allowance in early 2009, however, the latest count shows nearly identical numbers of the signs in use today as there was two years ago.

“We haven’t seen the huge increase in A-frame signs we thought we would,” said District Five County Commissioner Sylvia Murphy. “If the business owners still believe they need them, perhaps we should find a way to allow them to continue for now.”