06-27-2007 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ordinance No. 2007- Page 6 provisions of this paragraph do not apply to temporary outdoor advertising signs permitted under Subd. 9 (k) above. Outdoor advertising signs which exist on the effective date of this section shall be considered as nonconforming signs and are subject to standards contained in section 300.29. An outdoor advertising sign is a principal use of property. No permitted or conditionally permitted use or any part of such use may be located on the same parcel of property as such a sign. The parcel on which such a sign is located may not be subdivided to segregate the sign from the remaining property. For the purposes of this paragraph, "parcel of property" means any property for which one property identification number has been issued by the county, or all contiguous property in common ownership as of October 15, 1997, whichever is greater; and sr) any sign not expressly permitted by the provisions in section 300.30. Section 6. City code §300.30 is amended by the addition of a new subdivision 14 to read as follows: 14. Dynamic Displays. a) Findings. Studies show that there is a correlation between dynamic displays on signs and the distraction of highway drivers. Distraction can lead to traffic accidents. Drivers can be distracted not only by a changing message but also by knowing that the sign has a changing message. Drivers may watch a sign waiting for the next change to occur. Drivers are also distracted by messages that do not tell the full story in one look. People have a natural desire to see the end of the story and will continue to look at the sign in order to wait for the end. Additionally, drivers are more distracted by special effects used to change the message, such as fade -ins and fade -outs. Finally, drivers are generally more distracted by messages that are too small to be clearly seen or that contain more than a simple message. Time and temperature signs appear to be an exception to these concerns because the messages are short, easily absorbed, and become inaccurate without frequent changes. Despite these public safety concerns, there is merit to allowing new technologies to easily update messages. Except as prohibited by state or federal law, sign owners should have the opportunity to use these technologies with certain restrictions. The restrictions are intended to minimize potential driver distraction and to minimize proliferation in residential districts where signs can adversely impact residential character. Local spacing requirements could interfere with the equal opportunity to use such technologies and are not included. Without those requirements, however, there is the The stricken language is deleted; the underlined language is inserted. 6