Aaron Vannoy, the City of San Angelo’s Planning service director led a town hall discussion on proposed changes to the City’s sign ordinance last night at the Sugg Community Room of the Stephens Central Library. Fifteen people were in attendance, most of them engaged in the sign business in San Angelo.
Reason For Update
City staff worked with a committee of citizens and was tasked with making recommended changes in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising. In that case the City of Austin had a sign ordinance that regulated signs differently depending on whether they were on-site advertising or off-site advertising.
On-site is when the sign is advertising goods or services that are for sale at that location. Off-site is a sign advertising goods or services that are not being sold where the sign is located.
The Supreme Court held that regulating on-site and off-site signs differently was a content neutral regulation and did not violate the First Amendment.
The City’s current sign ordinance made a similar distinction between on-site versus off-site signs. A moratorium on enforcement of that ordinance has been in place since 2020 because of the City of Austin case.
City Abandons Distinction Between On-Site and Off-Site Signs
The committee studying the ordinance and City staff found that there was not any reason for San Angelo to distinguish between on-site and off-site signs. As a result they recommended that this distinction be removed from the ordinance.
Now signs will only be classified as freestanding, portable or temporary signs.
Billboards are any freestanding sign of more than 250 sq. ft. in size, and can be either static message or electronic. Billboard heights will be regulated by the road classification of the location: local, arterial, collector or freeway.
They are not permitted within 125 feet of a residential district boundary line. They are also required to have a 500-foot buffer zone from another billboard on the same side of the roadway.
In addition, electronic billboards can have no more than one-pane-per-side and have an illumination dimming requirement if they are within 125 feet of a residential-district boundary. Messages must be static for a minimum of eight seconds and change within two seconds or less on the entire face of the sign.
Electronic Message Signs
Electronic message signs that are under 75 sq. ft. in area will only be required to meet the same standards as other freestanding signs.
Signs that are over 75 sq. ft. in area must remain static for 8 seconds and change within two seconds like electronic billboards. They must be equipped with automatic dimmers, have a maximum brightness of 7000 nits during the day time and 1000 nits at night. If the sign is located within 250 feet of a residential district, then that requirement is reduced to 250 nits at night.
A nit is a unit used to measure the brightness of electronic displays. Itis equivalent to one candle per square meter.
Sign heights will be limited to:
- Local and collector streets – 25 feet
- Arterial streets – 45 feet
- Freeways and designate U.S. Highways – 50 feet
Overlay Districts
Billboards will not be permitted in the city’s overlay districts. These are the River Corridor, Downtown and Historic District. (A new cultural overlay district is being considered and the same prohibition would apply there as well.)
No variances can be allowed for billboards in these districts.
In the overlay districts, no free-standing sign will be allowed to exceed 30-feet in height, 75 sq.-ft.
Electronic message signs are limited to 15 sq.-ft. and again, no variances are allowed.
Portable Temporary Signs
A proposal from the sign committee to reduce the total amount of time a portable sign can be at a location from 180 days to 90-days total in a given year met with resistance from the sign businesses present at the meeting. The idea of pulling this topic from the agenda for the joint City Council/Planning Commission meeting on April 15 was discussed.
SMD 2 Council Member Tom Thompson was present and indicated he would make that request.
Next Steps
Mr. Vannoy said the draft ordinance would be posted online for the public to review. The ordinance is to be considered next at the joint meeting on April 15. The public is invited to come to that meeting and sign up to speak to Council and the Planning Commission about any concerns with the draft ordinance.
