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Sign ordinance in Sussex council's hands

After a year of debate, final vote is pending
September 30, 2016

It's on the Tuesday, Oct. 4 agenda, but that doesn't mean Sussex County Council will vote on amendments to the county's sign ordinance. If past history is any clue, council members will still debate the matter. It's something they have been doing for more than a year.

However, as a Tuesday, Oct. 11 billboard application moratorium deadline approaches, council will have to take action at the Oct. 4 meeting to extend or end the moratorium.

At its Sept. 22 meeting, the county's planning and zoning commission provided several suggested changes to council's version of the ordinance and then voted unanimously to recommend the updated ordinance be approved.

Commissioner I.G. Burton said the amended sign ordinance addresses many of the concerns raised by the public about current sign regulations, and it improves the code to address changes in sign technology.

Among the more than a dozen suggested changes, Burton said the prohibition against on-premises sign animation – with some exceptions – should be eliminated from the proposed ordinance. The ordinance should allow effects such as dissolving, fading and window-shading but prohibit continuous left- or right- and up-and-down scrolling, live action or streaming video and flashing messages on electronic signs.

Other planning and zoning recommendations include:

• Reduce the front setback for billboards – off-premises signs – from 40 feet in the proposed ordinance to 25 feet. “This will allow for an appropriate transition between on-premises, off-premises signs and buildings on a commercial property,” Burton said, adding it that it mirrors DelDOT's front setback regulations.

• Eliminate the 50-foot separation distance between on-premises signs and billboards. Burton said enactment of this regulation would have unintended consequences on businesses that may not have space to erect a sign advertising their businesses.

• Eliminate the proposed 150-foot separation distance between billboards and dwellings, churches, schools and public lands measured from the property line. Burton said the commission agrees that the distance should remain at the current 300 feet from billboards and other structures.

• Eliminate any separation distance between on-premises electronic message signs and billboards.

• Burton said the proposed ordinance should be revised to allow for a nonconforming billboard to be converted to an electronic message billboard only if it replaces two or more existing nonconforming billboards.

• Burton said the ordinance should clarify sizes of temporary real estate signs. He said signs should be limited to 10 square feet on single lots for the sale of a single dwelling but up to 32-square-foot signs should be permitted on commercial properties.

Most of the changes were suggested by sign company owners who were part of a working group appointed by council to provide input for the updated ordinance.

Council will have the option to adopt all or some of the proposed changes or approve the amended ordinance as written. Most of the changes made to the ordinance regulate billboards and other off-premises signs and electronic message centers. Other sections of the sign ordinance will eventually be updated including regulations relating to on-premises signs, feather flags and so-called bandit signs.

Among new regulations proposed by county council in the updated sign ordinance:

• Separate billboard regulations for 2- and 4-lane roads including maximum heights of 25 feet on 2-lane roads and 35 feet on 4-lane roads measured from ground level.

• Maximum billboard sign area of 300 square feet on 2-lane roads and 600 square feet on 4-lane roads.

• No stacked or side-by-side billboards.

• Variances for replacement billboards only for setbacks and separation distances and not for height or face size.

• Separation distance of 150 feet from a new billboard and property containing a church, school, dwelling or public lands, measured from the property line.

• Separation distance of 600 feet between billboards on all roads measured in a circle or radius on 2-lane roads and on the same side of the road on 4-lane roads.

• On-premises electronic message centers can be up to 200 square feet.

• Digital billboards are permitted in the same zoning districts as other billboards with a separation distance of 1,200 feet on 2-lane roads and 2,500 feet on 4-lane roads.

 

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