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TEXT AMENDMENT REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL 1 Case: FS21-147 2 3 Project Name: Billboard Signs 4 5 Council District: All 6 7 Meeting Date: October 19, 2021 8 9 Planner: Robert H. Kuhfuss, AICP 10 11 12 Applicant: Rhett Cooney, Boulevard Media Co. 13 14 Request: Text Amendment to Chapter 109 of the Surprise Land Development 15 Ordinance regarding Billboard Signs 16 17 Location: Citywide * 18 19 Support/Opposition: Some support, considerable opposition 20 21 Commission 22 Recommendation: Approve the requested Text Amendment with provisions that 1) 23 limit the number of billboards to one (1) within the specified 24 corridor and 2) limit the height of the billboard to 45’. 25 26 Alternative Actions: Approve the Text Amendment per the Planning Commission 27 recommendation stated above 28 29 Approve the Text Amendment with alternative language 30 31 Deny the Proposed Text Amendment 32 33 34 * Note: While the subject Text Amendment involves proposed changes to the LDO, if approved, the 35 affected properties are exclusive to District 1. 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 October 19, 2021 City Council Case: FS21-147 Billboard Signs Text Amendment Page 2 of 4 43 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 44 45 Rhett Cooney of Boulevard Media seeks an amendment to Chapter 109 of the Surprise 46 Municipal Code regarding Billboard Signs. The proposed Text Amendment, if approved, would 47 amend the manner in which such signs are regulated within the City of Surprise, specific to a 48 short segment of the Loop 303 in District 1. 49 50 BACKGROUND: 51 52 April 16, 2015: Staff began the overhaul of the Sign Code as previously written in Chapter 113 53 of the Surprise Municipal Code (SMC). 54 55 March 6, 2018: The City Council approved the amended Chapter 113 Sign Code. 56 57 April 5, 2018: The new Sign Code per Chapter 113 went into effect. 58 59 December 15, 2020: The City Council approved the Land Development Ordinance (LDO), at which 60 time Chapter 113 of the SMC became Chapter 109 of the LDO. 61 62 January 14, 2021: The LDO became effective. 63 64 February 4, 2021: Staff discussed the billboard matter during a regular Concept Review meeting 65 under CR20-818. 66 67 February 22, 2021: The applicant filed case FS21-147 as it relates to Billboard Signs. 68 69 May 12, 2021: The applicant held an outreach meeting to discuss the proposed changes to the Sign 70 Code as they pertain to Billboard Signs. 71 72 July 15, 2021: The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the subject request 73 to the City Council, with provisions limiting the number of billboard signs to one (1) within the 74 specified corridor, and limiting the height of the billboard to 45’. 75 76 August 17, 2021: At the request of the applicant, the Council continued the matter to a date- 77 certain of October 19, 2021 so the matter could be discussed during the work session of September 78 21, 2021. 79 80 September 21, 2021: The City Council discussed the matter at a regularly scheduled work session. 81 82 83 84 85 October 19, 2021 City Council Case: FS21-147 Billboard Signs Text Amendment Page 3 of 4 86 OUTREACH: 87 88 The applicant held an outreach meeting on Wednesday, May 12, 2021 in both in-person and virtual 89 format. Seven (7) attendees were present in person while one (1) attended virtually. The outreach 90 meeting, as well as the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing, were advertised in accordance 91 with state and local regulations. 92 93 Going into the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing of July 15, 2021, staff had received little 94 public input; however, since that date staff has received copious opposition and one item of 95 support. The reasons given for opposition are summarized below: 96 97 34 items received 98 o 5 instances of concern over the physical look 99 o 4 instances of concerns over dark skies 100 o 20 instances of concern over scenic view / desert beauty 101 o 9 instances of concern over driver distraction 102 o 7 instances where no reason was given 103 104 During the Work Session of September 21, 2021, several members of the public expressed 105 opposition to the request. 106 107 DISCUSSION: 108 109 During the re-write of the Sign Code back in the 2015-2018 timeframe, members of the 110 billboard industry approached staff regarding the possibility of including permissive language in 111 the Sign Code that would allow Billboards. Staff presented the idea to the Planning and Zoning 112 Commission who were amenable to the idea as long as it was on a limited basis. Staff, with the 113 assistance of the billboard community, and with input from stakeholders, prepared draft 114 language for the Commission’s consideration. After considerable discussion, the Billboard 115 language was revised and forwarded to the City Council for consideration; however, the Council 116 rejected the idea and opted to approve a version of the Sign Code that specifically prohibited 117 billboards anywhere within the City of Surprise. 118 119 The billboard language considered by the Commission in 2018, if approved, would have allowed 120 billboards in certain segments of the Grand Avenue corridor as well as a short segment of the 121 north Loop 303 corridor. The applicant’s current proposal contains similar language pertaining 122 to the north Loop 303 corridor, but deliberately excludes the Grand Avenue Corridor. The 123 proposed text also increases the maximum height of a billboard sign to 45’ above the edge of 124 pavement as opposed to 30’ as was the case with the original language back in 2018. The 125 complete language as proposed by the applicant is included as attachments to this report, 126 however is summarized here: 127 128 October 19, 2021 City Council Case: FS21-147 Billboard Signs Text Amendment Page 4 of 4 129 Section 109-1.7 A, Table 109-1a – revised to include billboards in certain zoning districts 130 Section 109-1.7F.11 – revised to remove billboards as a prohibited use 131 Section 109-1.9C.9 – revised to establish specific time, place and manner requirements 132 specific to billboards 133 Section 109-1.11 – revised to clarify the use of electronic messaging on billboards 134 135 Attachment 04a includes staff-proposed changes to the language that identifies the beginning 136 and ending points for the actual corridor. These proposed changes are intended to provide 137 clarity and do not affect the intent of the applicant’s proposal. Based on Commission input, 138 however, Attachment 04b also includes provisions that 1) limit the number of Billboards to one 139 (1) within the specified corridor, and 2) limits the height of the billboard to 45’. 140 141 FINDINGS: 142 143 The proposed changes are consistent with state statute. 144 The proposed changes are compliant with applicable case law regarding signs and the 1st 145 Amendment. 146 147 COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: 148 149 Approve the requested Text Amendment with provisions that 1) limit the number of billboards to 150 one (1) within the specified corridor and 2) limit the height of the billboard to 45’. 151 152 ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS: 153 154 Approve the Text Amendment per the Planning Commission recommendation stated above 155 156 Approve the Text Amendment with alternative language 157 158 Deny the Proposed Text Amendment 159 160 ATTACHMENTS: 161 162 01 – Applicant’s Narrative 163 02 – Applicant Response to Comments Letters/Outreach Summary 164 03 – SMC Section 109-1.7 Permitted and Prohibited Signs, leg-edit format 165 04a – SMC Section 109-1.9 Sign Classifications and Types, leg-edit format 166 04b – SMC Section 109-1.9 Sign Classifications and Types, leg-edit format (limiting number and height of sign) 167 05 – SMC Section 109-1.11 Electronic Messaging Centers, leg-edit format 168 Opposition