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Item No: 6 Meeting Date: May 7, 2001 Type of Business: WK WK: Work Session; PH: Public Hearing; CA: Consent Agenda; CB: Council Business City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor & City Council From: James Ericson, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Discussion Regarding Proposed Ordinance 679 Amending Chapter 1008 of the Mounds View Municipal Code, Otherwise Known as the “Sign Code” Date of Report: May 2, 2001 Background: The Planning Commission has been working on the sign code since October of 2000, devoting part of each meeting to this project. Over the course of these last six months, much time has been spent not only reviewing the City’s code but also the sign codes from other communities, model sign code language and some of the legal aspects surrounding sign regulation. The Commission has drawn upon all of these resources as well as their own experiences to draft the proposed sign code revision. Sign codes are intended to establish a comprehensive and balanced system of sign control that accommodates the need for a well-maintained, safe, and attractive community, and the need for effective communications including business identification. The Planning Commission feels that the proposed changes are in keeping with this purpose. On April 4, 2001, the Planning Commission held a public hearing regarding the proposed changes to the Sign Code and approved Resolution 651-01on April 18, 2001 which recommends City Council approval of Ordinance 679, the ordinance which amends Chapter 1008 of the Municipal Code pertaining to signs and billboards. Discussion: Many changes are proposed with this revision and it is staff’s intent to highlight the most obvious of these changes and those changes having the greatest impact upon the business community. To begin with, the structure of the code has changed and has been reorganized to make the code more readable and easier to understand. 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 changes are individually noted in table format on the following pages. A public hearing has been scheduled for the first reading and introduction of Ordinance 679 for May 14, 2001.