Published 10/23/08
Business owners from around Española voiced their opposition at a public hearing Oct. 8 to a proposed city ordinance that could require some businesses to change free-standing signs within six years.
The proposed ordinance would give businesses more square footage for free standing signs, but would limit the height of these signs to 16 feet (see sidebar), according to city documents.
Two scenarios were proposed for businesses with already existing signs. Either businesses would have to reach compliance within six years, or they could keep their signs until the business either changes or has major renovations done, at which time it would have to meet compliance. According to a show of hands from business owners, most favored the latter option.
The city’s Planning and Zoning Department will make a recommendation to the council at an Oct. 28 city council meeting on what the new ordinance should entail, Planning Director Cyrus Samii said.
The meeting attracted around 30 business owners. Businesses represented included El Paragua Restaurant, Saints and Sinners liquor store, Days Inn, Block Salazar Mortuary and Home Run Pizza.
“We’re all small businesses. For us to have to change the signs is a lot,” said Dennis Salazar, owner of Saints and Sinners liquor store on Riverside Drive.
Salazar said forcing business owners to reach compliance within a six-year time frame would be costly to business owners.
“It’s an expense that should be in the past,” he said.
Ralph Atencio, one of the owners of El Paragua Restaurant, said his main issue was with the time frame for compliance as well.
“If we have to redo signs, especially if variances were recently granted, it doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Samii said one of the reasons for the proposed ordinances was to limit the amount of variance requests the Department gets on a regular basis by allowing businesses more square footage for their free standing signs. For the last couple of years, the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission has regularly granted variances to businesses who wished to install signs larger than allowed under the current ordinance. In 2007 alone, at least 11 sign variances were granted by the Commision, in some cases allowing businesses to exceed the square footage limits by more than 100 square feet.
Antonio Gallegos, owner of American Spirit Homes, a manufactured home vendor, said a 16 foot height free standing sign wouldn’t do him any good because it could be blocked by the buildings on his lot making it hard to find the business.
“If you’re a visitor to the city, you’re lost,” he said.
While the Department waits for the sign ordinance to change, new signs have gone up at the city’s two Sonic locations on Riverside Drive and in San Pedro. Deputy Director Russell Naranjo said the signs do not comply with the current sign ordinance because of their animation.
According to the current code signs that “blink, flash or are animated by lighting in any fashion” which could cause them to be mistaken for traffic safety designs and lights or municipal vehicle warnings from a distance, are prohibited.
Naranjo said the Commission interpreted the code and denied Sonic’s request to put up the sign in June, however the decision was appealed to the city council in July which reversed the Commission’s decision under the provision that the sign would drop in height from 35 feet high to 16 feet high at the Riverside Drive and Fairview location, he said.
According to city documents the proposed ordinance would allow animated signs upon approval in commercial business districts, neighborhood business districts and institutions.
In addition a sign at the Days Inn on Highway 84/285 leaving town has seen a face lift. Naranjo said that the changes to the sign did not violate any part of the city’s code because no major changes were made.