Agenda Packets - 2001/05/29 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No: 7A Meeting Date: May 29, 2001 Type of Business: CB City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor & City Council From: James Ericson, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance 679, an Ordinance Amending Chapter 1008 of the Mounds View Municipal Code, “Signs and Billboards” Date of Report: May 22, 2001 Background: This ordinance is the result of six-plus months of very thorough analysis and review by the Planning Commission. Significant time has been spent reviewing not only the City’s code but also the sign codes from other communities; model sign code language and some of the legal opinions regarding sign regulation. The Commission held a public meeting on February 21, 2001, to which it had invited members of the business community and had a public hearing also on April 4th. The Commission forwarded the ordinance to the Council on April 18th, recommending adoption. The City Council held a public hearing on May 14, 2001 and approved the first reading of the ordinance. Discussion: As mentioned at the Council’s previous meeting, many changes are proposed with this revision to make the Code more user friendly, easier to interpret and administer, and more in line with the intent to establish a comprehensive and balanced system of sign control that accommodates the need for a well-maintained, safe, and attractive community, while providing adequate signage allowances for the business community. Even though some parts may be stricken as if deleted, in most instances the text is simply relocated elsewhere within the code. Similarly, many parts of the code are underlined as if new, yet are simply passages relocated from another part of the code. The major changes, which were highlighted at the Council’s last meeting, involve changes to area allowances, changes to temporary signage controls, allowance for non- conforming signs per Minnesota Statutes, regulation of window signage, addition of a section describing prohibited signs, and the addition of tables and charts to provide a more graphic-based understanding of the Code. All in all, we are quite pleased with the result and have not received any negative feedback from the business community regarding the changes. As discussed at the last meeting, a change was made to Section 1008.10, Subdivision 4g regarding grand openings and other special events. The Code now states that a permit is required which would NOT require Council authorization. It would be handled administratively, similar to how we currently handle temporary sign permits.