Item 4O City of Southlake, Texas
MEMORANDUM
Date: November 28, 2016
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Kenneth M Baker, Sr. Director of Planning and
Development Services
Subject: Item 40—Approve a Permit Fee for Existing Commercial
Building For Lease or Sale Signs
Action
Requested: Approve a sign permit fee (expires March 15, 2017) for
Existing Commercial Building For Lease or Sale signs. The fee
will be structured such to allow a permit applicant one of the
following options:
• Pay a permit fee of$100 for each Existing
Commercial For Lease or Sale sign; or
• Pay a $200 sign contractor registration fee and
register all Existing Commercial Building For Lease or
Sale signs currently installed.
Sign owners will have until January 13, 2017 to pay the fee
according to one of the options above. Based on information
derived from the sign inventory (sign registration) and prior
to March 15, 2017, the City Council will establish a
permanent fee structure for Existing Commercial For Lease
or Sale signs.
Background
Information: On October 4, 2016, the City Council adopted Sign
Ordinance 704- I. As part of the motion to approve the Sign
Ordinance, the City Council established a permit fee of $100
for each Existing Commercial Building for Lease or Sale sign
and required that each sign be permitted by the City. The sign
permit is valid for one year.
Since the adoption of the ordinance staff has received
concerns from the Southlake Brokerage Community relating to
the $100 annual fee per sign and the economic impact that the
fee has on firms that represent multiple properties.
Attached is a memo from Steve Shrum (Glacier Commercial
Realty) which outlines a proposed fee modification. The memo
indicates that the proposal represents a consensus of the
majority of the commercial brokers in Southlake (See
Attachment A).
The proposal for a temporary fee would allow the City staff to
gather information on the number of signs and locations and
provide this information to City Council. Based on this
information the City Council can better assess the potential
monetary impact on sign applicants and use this information in
the establishment of a permanent fee prior to March 15, 2017.
Based on the final fee established by City Council applicants
may either receive a refund for fees already paid or be
invoiced to make up any differential.
Citizen Input/
Board Review: None
Legal Review: None
Alternatives: 1) Maintain the fee established with the adoption of Sign
Ordinance 7041 -$100 per sign
2) Establish an alternative fee schedule.
Supporting
Documents: Memo dated November 28, 2010 from Steve Shrum, Glacier
Commercial Realty
'0Attachment A
Off, GIACIER
CRMRIEICIRI R[RITT,I.l.
433 Las Colinas Blvd
Suite 1100 . ......
Irving,Texas 75035
214.637.4300
214,637.4301 Fax
November 28, 2016
Ken Baker
Director of Planning and Zoning
City of Southlake
Dear Ken:
Thanks for meeting with the Glacier Commercial Realty Team on Thursday,November 17th at your
office. Since that meeting,we have met with the majority of the Southlake Commercial Brokers and
there are additional questions and concerns regarding the changes to the sign ordinance relating to
Commercial Properties For Sale/Lease/Development,but this email focuses only on the Sign Permit
Fee. The following Sign Permit Fee listed below is a consensus from our meeting with the Southlake
Brokers.
SIGN PERMIT FEE- Proposed Fee Modification:
• Contractor Registration-A Property Owner or Real Estate Company with multiple properties
owned or represented may register with the City of Southlake for a Contractor Registration in
connection with the installation of Commercial For Sale or Lease and New Construction/Development
Signage. (For example: Commercial Real Estate company represents 20+properties in Southlake,they
would submit 1 Contractor Registration which would be applicable for all properties represented by
that firm for a 12 month period,which may and most likely include more than 1 property owner and
change throughout the term based on leasing and sale activity.)
• Annual Contractor Registration Fee would be $300.00
• Contractor Registration would be signed by the Owner or Owner's Representative and include list of
anyone authorized to Sign Permit Applications on behalf of Owner and initial list of all properties
associated with the Contractor,which is updated as needed throughout the 12 month period.
• Registration Fee would cover all new Sign Permit Applications by Contractor throughout the 12-
month period and no additional fees required for individual properties during annual registration
period.
• Each Property Owner or Real Estate Company would as a consideration for the annual Contractor
Registration option fill out a spreadsheet with all of the listings For Lease/For Sale/Development
Signage properties in the City of Southlake associated with the Contractor, The spreadsheet would
include the property address and suite#s to reflect leased,vacant,or in transition.
Rising
Above
the Ordinary
• Contractor will submit a Sign Application Form with each new sign and update spreadsheet to reflect
changes of new properties or spaces available for sale/lease/development;however,the fee would
have been pre-paid in connection with the Contractor Registration.
• Individual Property Sign Permit Fee-A Property Owner or Real Estate Company that represents 1-
3 properties may choose to not register as a Contractor since they have limited for For
Sale/Lease/Development projects in the City of Southlake. These applicants that choose not to
register annually would pay$100.00 per Sign Permit Application for each individual property if not a
Registered Contractor.
• All existing Commercial Real Estate Signs erected prior to December 6,2016 shall be exempt from
initial$100 Sign Fee and sign drawing and general plan to scale requirements of the new Sign Permit
Application until the earlier of a)the individual property is 100%leased and sign removed,property
sold,or development project has received final building permit approval,or b) December 6, 2017.
Assuming the City Council agrees to our recommendation,those wanting to go ahead and register as a
Contractor may go ahead and pay the annual$300.00 fee which would cover all new Sign Permit
Applications for 2017. This final point is important so that all of our existing signs will not be non-
compliant and need to be removed as of December 6,2016.However,signs that are non-compliant
under the previous Sign Ordinance would not be subject to this grandfather clause. (eg.-wrong size,
wrong color,wrong construction materials).
Ken,we are eager to work with you and the City of Southlake. The Brokerage Community works as an
extension of the Economic and Development Group to help promote the City of Southlake and to bring
new business and new tax dollars to the City. Please let us know if you have any comments or wish to
discuss anything in more detail.
Sincerely,
S____
Steve Shrum
Co-Managing Partner
Andrew Beckman
Co-Managing Partner
Paul Blight
Vice President
Cc: Dennis Killough
Rising
Above
the Ordin