On a 4-3 vote the Town Council repealed the sign regulations in the Zoning Ordinance at its regular meeting on Jan. 3. According to the staff report from Development Services Director John Wesley, removing the two sections of the sign ordinance effectively takes away nearly all regulation of signs.

“The action by the Council…removed ordinance requirements for all types of signs, permanent and temporary. It removed the list of prohibited types of signs and prohibited sign locations,” Wesley told The Times in an email response to a question. “While a building permit is still required, there are no other regulations regarding signs.”

The repeal was placed on the council agenda at the request of new Council Members Allen Skillicorn, Brenda Kalivianakis and Hannah Toth. Councilman Gerry Friedel joined this group in voting for the repeal.

“It is time for a fresh start,” Skillicorn said.

He said the big reason he wanted the repeal is in support of business. He also believes there are First Amendment issues with the ordinance, a position Kalivianakis, an attorney, said she agrees with.

Friedel said he has long been a proponent of changing the sign regulations.

“This is an opportunity to get it done right,” he said. “Make it more business friendly.”

The supporters of the repeal said they want to start with a clean slate before looking at potential new regulations.

Vice Mayor Peggy McMahon said she has visited businesses along with Town staff and has heard no complaints about the ordinance. McMahon suggested there could be discussion related to amending the ordinance and moved to table the repeal proposal to discuss changes before any action. Her motion to table failed 4-3.

Councilwoman Sharron Grzybowski agreed with McMahon.

“There were a lot of meetings and a lot of public input on these regulations,” Grzybowski said. “I feel they did a really good job.

“I agree some changes may be necessary, but a total repeal results in chaos.”

Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Betsy LaVoie said the Chamber is in support of discussing changes to the ordinance, but not wholesale repeal. She said they are working with some businesses related to a specific provision related to monument signs and that could be disrupted. LaVoie also said she believes the Town could do better providing information to the public and businesses regarding the sign regulations.

The Chamber worked with real estate professionals and business owners providing input to the Town on the current rules.

In his staff report Wesley said the repeal removes regulations adopted by the council to assure compliance with the 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reed V. Gilbert,which held sign rules could not be based on content but could regulate location, size, type, material and number of signs.

A second part of the repeal was a resolution approved by council in 2012 which created a “sign free zone” for commercial and political signs in street medians as well as highly visible streets such as Shea Boulevard. With the repeal, signs are now permitted in these areas.

Mayor Ginny Dickey said the current sign regulations passed on a unanimous vote of the council and the resolution was passed to deal with political sign clutter and is compliant with state law.

“Any change in the zoning regulations should have a public hearing,” Dickey said. “This repeal is far reaching and (changes) need more time and effort. I feel repealing without public notice will have ramifications.”

Staff had asked Town Attorney Aaron Arnson whether the council could take up the repeal of the sign ordinance without sending it back to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Arnson said that in his opinion the ordinance is unclear but said that in dealing with the Zoning Ordinance and a proposal to “remove or modify a regulation previously imposed” must undergo the citizen review process.

“This is the most legally defensible conclusion and the one that is most consistent with our practice,” the staff report states.

Arnson told the council at the meeting he would, out of an abundance of caution, provide notice of a hearing. He said any other options he would discuss in a closed executive session and not an open council meeting.

Wesley told The Times it is staff’s belief there was general direction for preparing a new sign ordinance.

“We will be developing a process to draft the new ordinance,” Wesley said.