Business owners will get to choose how they come into compliance with the city of Española’s new sign code ordinance.
The City Council approved an updated ordinance Oct. 28, after eight months of research and revisions by the Planning and Zoning Department and after years of the city granting variances to businesses who wished to build signs larger than what was allowed under the old sign ordinance.
“It’s been a long road,” Deputy Planning Director Russell Naranjo said. “We did everything we could possibly do.”
That included traveling to other cities, such as Rio Rancho and Taos to measure their signs and examine ordinances, touring Española to see which signs worked and which didn’t and meeting with local business owners to address their concerns.
Basically business owners liked the revisions and thought it would help beautify the city, but they didn’t want to change their signs, Naranjo said.
The Department had proposed an amortization process that would require businesses with already existing signs that didn’t comply with the new ordinance to reach compliance within six years, according to a draft of the ordinance. And for those coming into compliance the permit fee would be waived.
However, at an Oct. 8 meeting, business owners were presented with a choice between the amortization process or allowing the signs to be grandfathered in. Not surprisingly business owners supported the second option, which would allow business owners with already existing signs not in compliance to leave their signs unchanged until major modifications had to be done, or the business changed owners, at which time the signs would have to come into compliance.
The new ordinance approved by the Council approved incorporated both options. Businesses with already existing signs not in compliance with the new sign code can leave their signs as is, per the grandfather clause, or can opt to change the signs within six years and have the permit fee waived.
Waiving the permit fee is an incentive for business owners to come into compliance within the six-year time frame, Naranjo said. The permit fee is $5 per square foot of sign.
The new ordinance allows businesses more square footage on free standing signs — 60 square feet, up from 40 —but lowers the maximum height limit from 36 to 16 feet.
In addition, Naranjo said, the new ordinance gives more signage away.
“We used to charge for everything,” he said.
According to the new ordinance, banners, hanging signs, portable signs and other forms of temporary signs can be put up without a permit.
Comfort Inn General Manager Helen Morfin, who was one of two business owners to attend the Council meeting said she was satisfied with the end result.
Morfin said her main concern had to do with how the city would require businesses to come into compliance.
“We wanted to be grandfathered in,” she said.
Geronimo Villa, a general manager at the Motel 6, said he was happy with the outcome as well. Villa was the only other business owner at the Oct. 28 meeting.
“I agree with it,” he said. “We couldn’t afford to do what they wanted us to do (come into compliance within six years),” he said.
Villa said he is looking into purchasing property to open another motel at the end of town and would have no problem meeting the new ordinance regulations.
“I don’t mind complying,” he said.
A proposed raise in the permit fee from $5 to $10 per square foot of signage was not implemented in the new ordinance.
Councilor Chayo Garcia, whose family owns Anthony’s at the Delta, said asking business owners to pay $10 per square foot for a sign permit was ridiculous.
Naranjo said the increase was considered to supplement income that would be lost by allowing temporary signs to go up without a permit fee. However the $5 per square foot fee would suffice in covering the cost accrued by the Department associated with inspecting new signs, he said.
Garcia said in the end she was happy with the outcome of the ordinance,
However, she said while the incentive offered to come into compliance may attract some business owners it was more likely that most would leave their signs as is because of the cost associated with changing signs.
“Nobody has $30,000 to change their signs, or even less $2,000,” she said.
The bottom line is those ordinances need to be enforced when it comes to new businesses, Garcia said.
Planning Director Cyrus Samii said that by allowing more signage in the new ordinance requests for variances should go down.
However, ultimately it is up to the Planning and Zoning Commission to decide which businesses get variances and which don’t, Naranjo said.