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frame at a distance ranging from 80 to 400 feet—the 400-foot limit should be lowered if other signs or street trees obscure visibility at that height.Clearly,a sign height of 15 to 20 feet or so serves that purpose nicely,and one of 25 feet or more is likely to make it impossible to see the sign as the auto nears it., �l Many commercial signs along such streets,however,are = NO ' 35 or 40 or even 50 feet high,well above the easy sight range P KI GI of the passing motorist.Some tall signs are clearly oriented BUS � to attracting traffic from a highway or an arterial several STOP blocks away, but many others are simply too tall for any I j reasonable purpose.When rows of independent merchants compete for the "tallest sign" honors, with all the signs touching the height limit in the district and all of them as near to the street as possible,the result is a row of signs that block `� P RTS CRAFTS each other from distances of a block or even less.And,from SUPPUES KITS,GIFTS closer distances, the signs are hard to see because they are 4" 53L6 too tall. Thus,reducing permitted sign height is often a net bene- fit to merchants, who save money on shorter poles and ± whose signs are more visible when lowered.However,few merchants understand it that way,and lower height limits are often very controversial. r' There are some logical approaches to determining sign r t heights in zoning districts that have building height limits. There seems to be little reason to allow signs that are taller than permitted buildings,if the building height limit is rea- ts sonable.Furthermore,where there are both a height limit :_ ; and a setback requirement, there is little reason to allow a sign to penetrate a plane extending from the top of the _ highest possible building at the setback line to the top of a theoretical wall of 8 or 10 feet at the property line. Such a - height limit produces an envelope effect that maintains the scale of the streetscape. = In commercial zones without height limits, the typical height of existing buildings can provide guidance for reason- able sign height limits. ANIMATED,FLASHING, AND LIGHTED SIGNS E Many sign regulations limit or prohibit moving or 7 flashing signs. Although moving or flashing signs can be more distracting to traffic than other signs,the issue is more likely one of aesthetics.Most sign regulations contain some Regulations governing snipe signs are very difficult to form of limitation on sign lighting and some contain exten- enforce—as is evident front the number that have been sive lighting specifications. plastered over each other on this light pole. Many regulations Other than beacons and lights producing glare on adja- prohibit them. cent properties,both of which can be considered nuisances, matters of sign lighting are aesthetic judgments that should be resolved as local policy issues.Special restrictions on sign regulations generally prohibit signs that are moved by lighting adjacent to residential properties are appropriate in mechanical or natural means, such as wind. Local regula- most communities;but other lighting restrictions should be tions sometimes allow moving signs in a downtown zone but carefully considered in the context of a community's entire prohibit them in neighborhood shopping areas in the same set of aesthetic goals—a darker sign is not necessarily a better community.Whether local regulations should address sign or more attractive sign. movement is entirely a matter of aesthetic judgment. The most common restrictions on sign motion and Some regulations address animated signs, including lighting are summarized here. within their scope signs that use flashing lights to create the appearance of movement.Other regulations simply include Moving Signs them with other flashing signs. Many regulations today prohibit moving signs. Those Flashing Signs 2.Street Graphics,14-19,55-56 and 66-69.See especially the drawing Regulations that limit sign movement often limit Ilashing on page 68. signs for similar, aesthetic reasons. As with moving signs, 8