TITLE: Title
Public Hearing on a Land Use Ordinance Amendment Relating to Signage
PURPOSE: The purpose of this agenda item is for the Board of Aldermen to consider a text amendment to the Land Use Ordinance regarding signs for places of worship. A draft ordinance has been prepared. The Board of Aldermen must receive public input before reaching a decision on an amendment to the LUO.
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DEPARTMENT: Planning
CONTACT INFORMATION: Christina Moon - 919-918-7325; Bob Hornik - 919-929-3905; Patricia McGuire - 919-918-7327
INFORMATION: Regulations relating to signage are provided for in Article XVII of the Land Use Ordinance. Section 15-272 describes those situations where signage is exempt from regulations such as residential property identification (address and owner names), governmental signs for information, traffic, directions, and church identification.
A draft ordinance has been prepared which, if adopted, would amend the LUO in two ways. First, the maximum size for church (bulletin board/identification/directional) signs would be increased from sixteen square feet to twenty-four square feet to better accommodate the need for visibility, particularly for churches in the more rural areas of the Town’s jurisdiction. Second, additional language would be added to the use classification for churches (5.200) to provide a more inclusive description in the Table of Permissible Uses and in the subsection relating to signage. The expanded description would read, “churches, synagogues, temples and other places of worship.”
The draft ordinance was referred to Orange County and presented to the Planning Board and Appearance Commission on December 6, 2018. Comments are provided (Attachment C). During its review of the item, the Planning Board noted an awkwardly worded phrase in the Table of Permissible Uses entry for churches. Staff researched the phrase and determined that it was a clerical error resulting from an amendment update. The attached updated version of the draft ordinance corrects this error. The Appearance Commission did not have a quorum and therefore did not comment on the item.
FISCAL & STAFF IMPACT: Public hearings involve staff and public notice costs associated with advisory board and Board of Aldermen review.
RECOMMENDATION:r Staff recommends that the Board of Aldermen consider the attached resolution, finding consistency for the proposed Land Use Ordinance amendment (Attachment A) and the draft ordinance (Attachment B).