09-28-2015 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCII. MEETING Monday, September 28, 2015 7:00 o'clock p.m. 11. #15-3775 CITY OF ORONO, TEXT AMENDMENT REGARDING TEMPORARY SIGNS Ordinance No. 159 (continued) Council Member Comick asked if the City is covered under this ordinance if someone wants to put out a temporary electronic sign. Barnhart stated he is sure the City is covered and that he has never seen a temporary electronic sign. Barnhart noted he is not proposing to change anything else in the code and that Staff will need to deny any application that requests something that is not allowed by current City Code. Barnhart stated in his view the ordinance is not opening the door to things the Council does not desire. McMillan noted on Page 1 of 2, the last sentence in the paragraph highlighted in red states, "For the purposes of this Chapter, community events shall include Orono Police and Long Lake events and Navarre Community Initiative and Orono School District events." McMillan stated she is assuming that means the Long Lake Fire Department. McMillan stated she would like to make that language a little broader since there is also the Westonka School District. McMillan suggested the language say, "Community events shall include local public safety events, community festivals, and local school district events." McMillan stated in her view that encompasses everything. McMillan noted Item b reads, "There should be no more than one temporary sign in any required yard area, and if separate multiple signs are proposed, the total area of the signs shall not exceed 32 square feet. McMillan stated in her view that language is confusing. Barnhart stated there is a distinction between a required yard, which is a setback of 35 feet, and the house or building setback, which could be 50 feet. Barnhart stated under the ordinance, there could be another sign in that second 15 -foot zone, which is the difference between a required yard and the front yard. Barnhart stated he is not proposing to change that at this time, but in his view the City will not run into that situation very often. McMillan stated as it reads, her understanding is that only one sign is allowed in the required yard area, but that the following language is confusing. McMillan stated she would like to make that language clearer so the code will be user friendly. Barnhart stated he can make any changes the Council would like to see, but that the Mayor is speaking to the heart of why the proposal was ramped down from a couple of weeks ago. Barnhart concurred the goal should be to make it user friendly and that he would like to hold off on that and revisit it later. McMillan stated she would also like to alert the businesses about this ordinance and that she would suggest Staff send a letter to them as well as a sign application. McMillan stated she would like Staff to look at some way that someone could fill out a permit for the entire year. McMillan stated the fee could perhaps be adjusted if they book all four temporary signs for the year at one time. McMillan stated she would like it to be as easy as possible for businesses so they do not have to keep coming up to City Hall and that the City could start enforcing it in 2016. Walsh stated the City does not have a lot of businesses so it should be relatively easy. Page 19 of 27