Thanks to the concerted effort of the CSA-led coalition, as well as our individual CSA members and our consultants, it looks as though officials are finally paying attention to the impacts the pending ordinance will pose. Over the summer, we will hopefully have the opportunity to meet with Council and Planning staff to provide much-needed input toward crafting a responsible, reasonable ordinance.
The Council also will be voting in the next week or two on a further 45-day urgency moratorium (ICO) on new billboards, off-site digital signs (and conversions), and supergraphics to take effect when the current ICO expires June 24. Additionally, Planning Staff was directed to explore additional enforcement alternatives and to investigate the feasibility of implementing a sign trade program (whereby new off-site signs could be erected if a certain number of other signs are removed).
These proposed amendments were referred back to the PLUM Committee for further consideration:
1. An exception grandfathering signage for the Grand Avenue Project by establishing a special use district.
2. An exception allowing comprehensive sign programs in the Greater Downtown Housing Incentive Area having a minimum of 5 acres or 100,000 square feet of floor area.
3. A prohibition on additional signs extending from marquee signs.
4. Allowing the California Historical Building Code, in lieu of the City building code, to be substituted for the preservation, maintenance and repair of qualified signs in the city's historic districts.
5. An exception for "interior" signs, as defined, on enclosed sites of more than 40 acres, such as campuses.
6. A limitation that no single wall shall display more than 300 square feet of on-site signage.
7. Direction to staff to recommend revisions within 120 days concerning digital billboards and digital on-site signs, to include "appropriate land use measures that regulate the brightness and illumination, hours of operation, and number of messages allowed every minute on digital signs." (Currently, the zoning code allows on-site digital signs.)
