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Saturday, February 9, 2013

Bear Lake Valley Blue Print on Business Signs


Randall Knight, Reporter
Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah. February 6, 2013. Garden City Planning Commission.  There were several people in attendance; both business owners and residents.
The Mayor gave a brief background on the sign ordinance 11C-600.  One of the main concerns was the liability the city bears with improperly installed signs.  He stated the Bear Lake Valley Blue Print is an important process used to provide a vision for the future development of the area and a model to use in an attempt to ensure its beauty. He stated that last summer several comments were provided in a negative way concerning the signs and their appearance.  Last July a comprehensive process was put in place to update the ordinance policy and input was requested from several local businesses.  This meeting was the third meeting held to discuss the plan and ordinance.  He emphasized that input from the community is requested and desired ensure that everyone in the community is onboard with the final decision and policy.  Andy Stokes said he reviewed the sign ordinances from other comparable cities as a baseline to write the sign ordinance.
Bill England discussed his concerns about the strictness of the ordinance as written and the effect it will have on his business; banners, balloons and his large carved bear located in front of the pizza parlor that has become a famous landmark.  Andy White said the current acceptable signs will be grandfathered in and not required to meet the new ordinance requirements.  Mark Hislop said the ordinance had gone from 3-4 items in the first meeting to over 30 items now and the cost for signs has increased significantly.  Andy said he gained new information concerning what signs require a licensed contractor to install after reviewing other city sign ordinances; i.e. signs over $1,000, maximum height of 48 inches, and 12 square ft.  Larger signs need to meet the International Building Code and applicable electrical codes if the sign requires electrical connection.
The manager of Coopers asked about off premise signs and their restrictions.  He was told they are not restricted from any zones but have to be installed in accordance with the city and UDOT requirements if installed along the state highways.  A couple of Realtor’s asked about their sign restrictions and were told the ordinance is intended to prevent a large number of realty signs, including directional signs, from being displayed for developments.
One of the attendee’s voiced his concern about the city getting in the way of the local businesses making a profit in the current environment by adding so many regulations.  He also stated the comparison of Garden City to Moab and Park City, cities with 365 days of business, to the short season we have here was wrong.  The board agreed they need to do some more research to see if they can’t find other cities with limited tourist time frames.
Questions were also asked in regard to community event signs and were told they are exempt from the ordinance except for safety restrictions.  Examples of these exempt signs are parade of homes, chocolate festival, Heritage Days, Fire District breakfast, St. Charles salmon bake, etc.
The board requested that everyone review the draft ordinance and provide final inputs prior to 21 Feb.  Because of the number of questions and concerns the board decided they would like another public meeting next Tuesday at 9:00 AM for another review of the document.

 

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