The path toward signage approval for storefronts, restaurants, and other businesses in Solvang is a long and winding road, but a shortcut is in the works thanks to the results of a city survey.
During the Solvang City Council’s Nov. 12 meeting, Planning and Building Manager Rafael Castillo summarized some feedback the city collected from more than 50 business owners during the summer. Based on responses to a questionnaire about Solvang’s sign ordinance, most participants believe the Design Review Committee’s (DRC) current approval procedure is too cumbersome and needs reform.
“That’s been the chief complaint for businesses—the time it takes to get to the DRC and potentially get an approval,” Castillo said at the meeting.
According to the staff report, Solvang’s existing sign ordinance requires businesses to seek formal approval on new signs, whether they’re original signs or replacement signs based on previously approved designs, from the DRC during the board’s Brown Act meetings.
Before June 2023, proposed signs that met all code standards during staff reviews were agendized for the DRC as meeting items. To help streamline the sign permitting procedure, staff began placing signs of this type on the DRC’s consent calendar, “under the assumption that if a sign met the code, little to no discussion would be needed,” the staff report states.
However, between the summer of 2023 and the summer of 2024, the DRC frequently pulled staff-approved signs off the consent calendar, in some cases to scrutinize their content, which staff advised against, in accordance with case law on content-neutral sign regulations—specifically Reed v. Town of Gilbert.
During a DRC meeting in December 2023, for example, Castillo informed the board that its decision in May 2023 to reject local juice bar Sano Pecado’s proposed signage on subjective grounds was not justified, as the sign in question met all the city’s objective standards outlined in the municipal code.
“Previous city staff did not advise, in my professional opinion, this DRC board properly, based on previous court cases of content-based signage and being content-neutral,” said Castillo, who joined city staff during the summer of 2023.
To avoid cases similar to the Sano Pecado decision, which resulted in a six-month appeal route, Castillo recommended at the City Council’s Nov. 12 meeting that future sign approvals be completed at the staff level, unless an applicant seeks to deviate from objective sign standards. This policy would allow the applicant to appeal for a DRC review in those cases.
Castillo also proposed that the DRC work with staff and city officials on updating the city’s objective sign standards, to stay consistent with current case law while maintaining Solvang’s character.
“Our brand means everything, … and design means everything. There’s a reason why I have so many family and friends in awe that I work here,” Castillo said. “But by the same token, I understand that there is a frustration in terms of the processing of our sign ordinance. … [We’re] trying to tiptoe that line of keeping up with our brand, but at the same time, allowing our businesses to grow and develop, and that’s a very fine line to walk.”
After Castillo’s presentation, the Solvang City Council directed staff to plan for a public workshop and joint meeting (between the City Council, Planning Commission, and DRC) sometime in early spring to discuss the future of Solvang’s objective sign standards and permitting procedure.
This article appears in Nov 21 – Dec 1, 2024.