(Estherville)– The city of Estherville is re-visiting its sign ordinance, specifically for businesses in the downtown area. City Administrator Penny Clayton told city council members Monday evening they’re looking at possible revisions, clarifications and simplifications to make it easier for more uniform enforcement. But Clayton says they will be somewhat limited in making any changes as D.O.T rules take precedence…
“There’s not a room for change in the current ordinance, the way it’s written, based on the D.O.T regulation as it pertains to the highway right-of-way. However we did discover from speaking with them that generally they don’t enforce provisions of the code where our flower planters, for example, are sitting in the D.O.T right-of-way. They also don’t get extremely proactive and aggressive in welcome banners and things of that nature. They also don’t, anything that’s attached to the building is generally not something that they address, either. So there may be some opportunities to solidify some of those policy-type issues by sending it back to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The sign code is within our code, therefore we need to send it to Planning and Zoning. Planning and Zoning would need to review, review all of the legal document leading up to that, and be able to make a recommendation to the city council on what ordinance change, if any, could be adopted.”
Clayton says it could lead to revisions and updates in other sections of city code as well.
The council voted unanimously to direct the Planning and Zoning Commission to look at possible revisions to the sign ordinance.
