Santa Maria Sun / News

Changes to sign ordinance will head to Planning Commission

BY JEREMY THOMAS

Revisions to an ordinance regarding sandwich boards and other temporary signs for Santa Maria businesses will go to the city’s Planning Commission before City Council members can decide how to proceed, city planners said.

According to the city’s community development director, Larry Appel, a planning panel must review the proposed amendments before they go to the council.

“The City Council was thinking that the signs would come right back to them,” Appel said, “but it was pointed out after the meeting that any text amendments to the Zoning Ordinance require a trip to the Planning Commission first.”

On Aug. 17, the council voted 4-1 to extend a “sunset clause” on sandwich board signs to 2011 in the city’s Downtown Specific Plan area. The decision drew criticism from several business owners outside the area, who claimed that not having the sandwich board advertisements hurt business.

The City Council originally approved a ban on the signs in June 2008. The ban took effect on July 3, but was suspended until the council could decide whether or not to revise the ordinance.

Sandwich boards are currently allowed in the Downtown Specific Plan area, a section of the city covering approximately 268 acres within the borders of Fesler, Miller, Morrison, and Pine streets. The use of sandwich board signs is banned everywhere else. According to city officials, code enforcement officers are in the process of ordering businesses outside the area to remove their sandwich board signs.

Mayor Larry Lavagnino, the only city councilmember to vote against the ordinance, has said he wants to regulate the sizes of signs businesses can use, but favors extending the “sunset clause” and expanding the area in the city so all businesses benefiting from sandwich board advertising can use them.

The City Council also approved other changes to the city code, including a ban on bow and feather signs in the city, with a 60-day grace period after the ordinance is adopted.

Appel said he would take the draft ordinance to the Planning Commission on Oct. 6 and hopes to return to the City Council for an introduction and first reading on Nov. 2. Final reading could come at the Nov. 16 council meeting. If approved, the new sign ordinance would become effective 30 days later.

Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas compiled this week’s News Briefs from staff reporting and local and national media. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.