On Monday, September 13 at 5 p.m. the Plan Commission will hold a public hearing on an ordinance that would revise the Village’s sign codes with the intent of helping attract and retain businesses. The proposed ordinance would eliminate the downtown-specific sign requirements that were established to maintain a certain style and character in the downtown area by limiting light, colors, size and location of signs.
The current downtown requirements prohibit signs that are electronically lit from within “unless it can be proven historically accurate to the style of the building.” Under the downtown design requirements, any new or replacement signs require a design review by the Community Development Authority. By removing the downtown design requirements, downtown businesses will be subject to the regulations that currently apply to the rest of the Village, which are generally less restrictive and do not involve a review by the Community Development Authority.
The proposed ordinance would also revise the Village-wide sign code in the following ways:
- The code currently limits the size of ground signs to 25 square feet per face of the sign if is located on the property line and it allows the size of the sign to increase one square foot for each foot it is set back from the property line (up to a maximum of 150 square feet). The proposed ordinance will increase the sign area at the lot line to 32 square feet and will allow a maximum size of 40 square feet when the sign is five feet or more from the property line; any sign over 40 square feet would require approval from the Plan Commission.
- Window signs are currently limited to 25% of the glass are of the window. The proposed ordinance will allow window signs to take up 50% of the glass area; it will also allow perforated window decals to take up to 100% of the glass area.
- The proposed ordinance would remove the fee requirement for temporary banners requiring a permit.
The proposed ordinance was recommended by the Administration Committee which received feedback from the Chamber of Commerce requesting the sign regulations to be more business-friendly. The Committee also discussed the regulations with Village staff and the building inspector.
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