Item 8C MemoCity of Southlake
Department of Planning
MEMORANDUM
March 24, 2004
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Ken Baker, Senior Planner
SUBJECT: Ordinance No. 704 -B, 1 st Reading, Amendment to the Sign Ordinance. (If approved on first
reading, the public hearing will be April 6, 2004.)
Purpose of the
Item: Consider proposed amendments to the Sign Ordinance.
Background: Staff has prepared amendments to the Sign Ordinance for City Council's
consideration. These amendments result from recent changes to the Texas Local
Government Code and the city's Zoning Ordinance, and the shifting of the
administrative responsibilities of the Sign Ordinance from Building Services to
Planning. A summary of the proposed amendments are as follows:
1) Prohibit political signs on private property that are over a certain size limit,
illuminated or mechanical in nature;
2) Provide regulations that allow the city to remove obsolete signs without
payment or compensation to the sign owner;
3) Exempt from the regulations signs which are: a) attached to temporary
structures used for outdoor sales or services; b) attached to a donation bin; or c)
associated with fund raising /sales activities; and
4) Shift responsibility of the administration and enforcement of the Sign Ordinance
from the Building Official to the Administrative Official.
Summary of
Amendments:
Prohibit political si ,-ns on private property that are over a certain size limit,
illuminated or mechanical in nature.
The current sign ordinance does not regulate political signage on private property.
The Texas Local Government Code severely curtails a city's ability to regulate
political signs on private property; however, a new statute adopted by the Texas
Legislature ( §216.903) during their past session allows a locality to regulate political
signs on private property if the sign exceeds a certain size or is mechanical or
Memo to City Council
1/20/2011
illuminated in nature. As a result, Section 17 of the ordinance has been amended to
read as follows:
K. POLITICAL SIGNS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY
A person commits an offense if the person displays a political sign on private
property unless the person has the permission of the property owner and the sign:
1. is not more than eight feet high;
2. has an effective area less than 36 feet;
3. is not illuminated;
4. does not have any moving elements; and
5. is not generally available for rent or purchase and /or designed to carry
commercial advertising or other messages that are not primarily political.
Allow the city to remove obsolete suns without payment or compensation to the
si ,-n owner
In the past, the city was responsible for compensating the owner of a property if an
obsolete sign was removed. During the past Texas Legislative session, §216.003 ofthe
Texas Local Government was amended to ease restrictions upon the city's right to
remove obsolete signs without payment or compensation to the sign owner. If an
obsolete sign meets the conditions below, the city may remove a sign from a property
without compensating the owner. Therefore, the definition for "obsolete signs" (Section
2) has been revised to conform to statutory requirements for sign relocation without
compensation.
OBSOLETE: Any sign which:
(1) for at least 12 continuous months, does not identify or advertise a bona fide
business, lessor, service, owner, product or activity on the premises on which the sign is
located,
(2)which, if the premises is leased, relates to a tenant and at least two years have
elapsed the the date the most recent tenant ceased to operate on the premises, or
(3)for which no legal owner can be found and relates to a use or purpose that is no
longer in existence.
Memo to City Council 2
1/20/2011
Exemptin- signs which are: a) attached to temporary structures used for outdoor
sales or services; b) attached to a donation bin; and c) associated with fund
raisin- /sales activities.
In the past, the city has not regulated signs associated with the following activities:
1) outdoor sales and services (i.e. hot dog and snow cone stands); 2) donation bins;
and 3) fund raising /sales activities (Girl Scout Cookie sales at shopping centers). It
is proposed that signage associated with outdoor sales and services and donation
bins be regulated through the SUP process. Signage associated with fund raising
activities will be exempt from the regulations of this ordinance. As such, Section 23
has been amended to include the following:
F. Signs attached to a temporary structure utilized specifically for outdoor sales or
services or any other signs which are approved in a specific use permit authorizing
the outdoor sales or services.
G. Signs attached to a donation bin.
H. Signs associated with fund raisers /sales, provided that the activity is an
authorized accessory use as defined in Zoning Ordinance 480.
Administration of the Si ,-n Ordinance
Since the beginning of the year, the Planning Department has been reviewing sign
permit applications instead of the Building Services Department (The Building
Service Department still enforces the ordinance). As a result, the term `Building
Official' has been replaced by the term "Administrative Official'. The
Administrative Official is defined as the City Manager or his or her designee.
Utilizing the term "Administrative Official' provides the City Manager with the
greatest amount flexibility in appointing individuals to administrator /enforce the
ordinance.
Memo to City Council
1/20/2011