§ 20-17. Findings and purposes.

(a)

Purposes. This article was enacted with the following purposes:

(1)

To protect the rights of individuals and businesses to convey their messages through signs;

(2)

To encourage the effective use of signs as a means of communication;

(3)

To promote economic development;

(4)

To improve traffic and pedestrian safety as it may be affected by distracting signs;

(5)

To prevent the destruction of the natural beauty and environment of the city and to ensure the harmony and compatibility of the character of the area including its physical appearance, natural setting, informal landscaping, and preserve the historic character of the city;

(6)

To encourage and ensure that development that is context-sensitive in design and materials compliments and is compatible and sensitive with the existing character of the area through its proportion, scale, design, style, placement, position, and architectural qualities that further the distinct values of the city;

(7)

To protect the public health, safety and general welfare;

(8)

To restrict the continued existence of abandoned or nonconforming signs unless in compliance with the terms of this article and to eliminate, over time, all nonconforming signs;

(9)

To ensure the fair and consistent enforcement of sign standards; and

(10)

To make it easier, quicker, and more economically efficient to apply for a sign permit.

(b)

Findings. This article was enacted with the following findings in mind:

(1)

The city finds that signs are a proper use of private property, are a means of personal free expression and a necessary component of a commercial environment. As such, signs are entitled to the protection of the law. In the absence of regulation, however, the number of such signs tends to proliferate, with property owners desiring ever increasing numbers and sizes of signs, leading to cluttered and aesthetically blighted thoroughfares. In addition, the competition among competing sign owners for visibility of their signs contributes to safety hazards for both vehicles and pedestrians and undermines the sign owners' original purpose of presenting a clear message of its idea or identification of its premises.

(2)

The city further finds that the regulation of the size, height, number and spacing of signs is necessary to protect the public safety, to ensure compatibility of signs with surrounding land uses, to enhance the business and economy of the city, to protect the public investment in the streets and highways, to maintain the tranquil environment of residential areas, to promote industry and commerce, to eliminate visual clutter and blight, to provide an aesthetically appealing environment, and to provide for the orderly and reasonable display of advertising for the benefit of all the city's citizens.

(3)

The city further finds that there is a substantial difference between signs erected by public authority and signs erected by private citizens or businesses. Signs erected by public authority are virtually all erected for the purpose of maintaining the public safety either through direct control of traffic or through provision of such type signage as street signs which enable the traveling public to know where they are located and to find where they are going. As such, with the exception of signs identifying government buildings, virtually all government signs are erected purely for public safety purposes. Moreover, their use in the public right-of-way is necessary to ensure their visibility to the motoring public. The city council finds that public utility signs are frequently of the same nature as those signs erected by governmental entities in that they provide necessary information to safeguard the public from downed power lines and from street excavations. Even where signs serve a propriety purpose, such as identifying markings on utility poles, those signs are marked primarily for the purpose of benefiting the public generally through identification of locations where there may be temporary losses of power.

(4)

The city further finds that some signage has a single targeted function and that identification of such signage by description is impossible without referring to its function. For instance, address numerals are used for the sole purpose of locating addresses, which is of benefit to persons looking for those addresses and is essential to public safety personnel responding to emergencies. Subdivision signs at the entrances to subdivisions favor a similar purpose in enabling both the traveling public and emergency personnel to quickly locate subdivision entrances for the purpose of either visitation or responding to emergency calls. While such signage is referenced based upon the function it serves within the context of this article, the bulk of the provisions of this article are unrelated to the content of the speech provided and allow maximum expressive potential to sign owners.

(Ord. No. 26-12, 5-3-12)