Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 10-14-03 regular Council agenda — reading text

signs, while the City' s code does not. The City' s sign code is designed for constitutional guarantees and neighborhood aesthetics, while Okaloosa County' s sign code is more liberal in its application. The major differences in the two ( 2) sign codes are depicted in the Table 2, below: Shm Code ComDarison Table 2. Re uirement Okaloosa Si Code Fort Walton Beach Si Code Height 45 ft. all districts ( AA- l, AA-2, 24 ft. max. ( HC, C- 2,M- I, M-2, BR, BG, BT and IP) ( p. 5) MUCC- 2 and MUW- 24) 1512 8 ft. max (MUMS, MOW- I 8, MUCC- l, CF, EF, OS, YC, and RN- C . 1514 Computation of Sign Area Total sign area = 2 sq. ft. per 1 Wall Signs= 3 ft. height by 75% lineal foot of street frontage. of a wall facing street or may be utilized in any parking lot. 2. 5 ft. ht.=MUMS; combination between wall, 4 ft. ht if 300+ ft. from Street. projecting CJ.nd free- standing Free- standing Signs= sliding signs)( p. 7) scale based on street frontage; 50 sq. ft. = 100 ft. ftontage 25 sq. ft. = 76- 99 ft. ftontage 15 sq. ft. = 50- 75 ft. ftontage o sq. ft. = 49 ft or less frontage p. 1511- 15 16) Special exceptions: Multi-tenant centers= 100 sq. ft. of sign area. Car dealerships= 350 max sq. ft. of s~ area . 1517 . Setbacks 10 ft from any property line(p. 5 5 ft. from the tront property line and p. ll #2) within a landscaped area.(p.1513) o ft. trom the side Off-premise signs ( includes, but Permitted in AA- l, AA-2, BR, Not permitted, ( p .1511 ) not limited to billboards) BG, BT and IP districts up to 400 sq. ft. in sign area/spacing requirements (p.S). Not permittyd in the Destin Corridor. . 15 3 of 4 - Sign Code Comparison Roof Signs Permitted Not pennitted, Signs in ROW Subdivision + PUD located in median at entrance street. 9# 1. CONCLUSION: As depicted in the above tables and analysis, the Okaloosa County sign code allows the business owner a greater degree of flexibility in the application of proposed signage; however, it tends to generate larger rree standing signs which can produce sign clutter; and in some extreme instances, actually reduces the ability of the reader to read these rree standing signs because they are blocked by other signs or are unreadable due to their massing and lack of adequate spacing. In the neighborhood meetings, as well as, the Municipal Planning Board and Community Redevelopment Agency meetings; sign size and clutter are expressed as a concern. The City of Fort Walton Beach' s sign ~ode is more flexible regarding wall signs, but more stringent for the pennitted sign area and number ofrree standing signs. The City' s sign code is-designed for specific districts and purposes based on the needs of the particular business or neighborhood. It is conducive to promoting traffic safety by limiting visual- distraction and visual sign clutter. The City' s sign code authorizes signage, which promotes harmonious integration with the appearance ofthe community and architecture ofthe buildings and sites they occupy. When the City adopted the new sign code, several public workshops were held, specifically targeted to business owners and sign contractors and their input was incorporated into the code. In addition, the City hired Mark Miller, an attorney, who with the assistance of Professor Daniel Mandelker assisted in the development of a sign code which would stand out as it was developed, up to a First Amendment challenge: The existing sign code was well thought with expert review and suggested changes in order for it to be user. friendly and legally correGt' and defensible. RECOMMENDATION: Sign regulation remains a community priority in that the third highest rated community liability at the September Vision Plan Summit was UglylToo Many signs. Based on that input rrom the community, CDS staff recommends the following: 1. Hold a public workshop every six ( 6) months to identify areas of concern and build public consensus regarding any changes to the City' s sign code. 2. Identify key areas of concern through citizen and sign industry input (work shop, survey, etc.) and amend the City' s sign code to address those identified concerns based on a consensus of the residents, business owners and sign industry. . 3. Hold the first Sign Code Workshop in January, 2004 to address areas of concern. 4. Present findings of the workshop to the City Council in February, 2004 with recommended changes to the Sign Code, if any. . Attachments: 1. Okaloosa County Sign Code 2. City of Fort Walton Beach Sign Code ( also Ordinances # 1518 and # 1522) MHFIc20 3\C;igncodecomp. 1 0 1403R3 4 of 4 - Sign Code Comparison OKALOOSA COUNTY CHAPTER 8 SIGNAGE Land Development Code, Amended September 10, 2002  CHAPTER 8 SIGNAGE u Outline 8- 2 8. 00. 00 Purpose..... ....................:....... .:........:.......... ....... .............................. ............... 8- 2 8. 01. 00 Definitions....................................................................... ", ..........:............. .... 84 - .' 8. 02. 00 Pennits Required ................................. ~............ ............. .................... ~........... 8- 5 .' 8. 02. 01 Pennanent On- Site Signs......................... ................ ........ ......................,. 8. 02. 02 Pennanent Off-Site Signs.... ........ ......................... ................... ............ :... 8- 5 8- 5 8. 02. 03 Temporary Signs ....... .... ........... ............ ....... ...... ..................... ...... ...... ...... 6__._._ .--..... ...:...... .... 8. 03. OO- Computatlons ...................................... .......... ..~_...._. .........---..--..-.-....-.... " 8.::. J.. n. _ n. _. ... 8- 6 8. 03. 01 Computations of Area of Individual Signs ............................................... 8- 6 8. 03. 02 Computations of Area ofMultifaced Signs .............................................. 8- 6 8. 03. 03 Computations of Height....................... "...............~................................. 8. 03. 04 Com~ utations of Total Permitted Sign Area ............................................. 8- 7