Proposed new sign ordinance reviewed by Jasper Planning Commission, few changes recommended

The Jasper Planning Commission reviewed the proposed new sign ordinance during Wednesday’s meeting.

The sign ordinance is being rewritten by the City of Jasper, the Jasper Action Team and the Jasper Chamber of Commerce. The goal is to clarify an ordinance that has been criticized in the past as being obscure or difficult to read.

The commission had few critical comments about the new ordinance but spoke extensively about temporary signs, such as those advertising the Peter Pan production at Jasper High School, that seem to pop up all over town quite often. The discussion ranged from limiting the number that can be put on a single property -the board commented several times on the many lining Central Green- to even limiting the number that can actually be placed around town to promote an event.

The board determined the difficulties in enforcing these mandates would be detrimental, but did decide to limit the time a sign could be in place to two weeks. “If there is a church picnic coming up, those signs don’t need to be up three or four weeks before the event,” board member Cindy Laake said.

On the placement of temporary signs, the board agreed permission must be given by property owners before a sign is placed but recognized the difficulty as right-of-ways sometimes encroached upon a property owner’s perceived property line.

Political signs are exempt from this portion of the ordinance.

The group also discussed additional signage being allowed at multi-tenant buildings. Abandoned factories and warehouses around Jasper have been turned into multi-tenant buildings for businesses. Currently a multi-tenant building has the same sign restrictions as a single-tenant building. This makes it difficult for subsidiary stores to advertise their business if the anchor tenant has a large sign.

The new ordinance allows multiple signs with set parameters per tenant with a plan submitted to the Planning Commission for approval. The board agreed each sign should be a minimum of 40 square feet but no more than 300 square feet; this size is also regulated by the width of the business’s storefront.

There was also some discussion on who should approve the submitted plan for the signs. City Attorney Renee Kabrick will be reviewing the process to determine the proper board, commission or individual to approve the plans submitted by property owners.

Other areas addressed include allowing Realtors to place “open house” signs up 72 hours in advance of the open house. In addition the board recommended wording on placement of the signs be changed from “ten feet from right-of-way” to “shall not encroach”. The board felt a mandatory distance would be difficult to enforce and some signs placed on certain properties would be impossible to keep ten feet from the right-of-way due to the placement of the buildings on the property.

The new ordinance is expected to have a public hearing before the next Planning Commission meeting. At that time the commission will have the option to recommend or not recommend the new ordinance to the common council for approval.

Jasper City Community Development and Planning Director Darla Blazey expects the new ordinance to be before the Jasper Common Council for review and potential approval in November’s meeting.