Council Passes Sign Ordinance
An assortment of
Monopoly board-size political signs, passed
among giggling civic activists, was the
unofficial audience highlight Monday as the
Centennial City Council gave unanimous final
approval to an ordinance governing temporary
signs.
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Then, after a last-minute change in the duration rules for posting and removing campaign yard signs, the council OK'd its long-debated ordinance.
The measure had been designed to mediate the perceived "trashiness" of temporary signs, a medium that has been used to promote everything from singles clubs and yard sales to church socials and city council election campaigns.
The ordinance, which takes effect June 23, will require that signs posted near major arterial streets, such as Arapahoe Road and University Boulevard, be posted only on private property and be set back 30 feet from the street's pavement.
Although the setback does not apply beyond private fences or walls, signs cannot be attached to the outside of such barriers and will be subject to existing height restrictions.
Homeowners' and civic organizations, governments and special districts, and other public entities are exempt from the 30-foot setback.
An earlier version of the ordinance had imposed a 10-foot setback from "intermediate" streets and a 3-foot setback from all other city roads. The council removed those requirements on the recommendation of the city attorney's office.
Centennial's next step is figuring out how to enforce the newly revised sign code.
"We intend, within the next 30 days, to work with code enforcement in presenting you with a couple of different options for enforcement policies and procedures," deputy city attorney Linda Michow told the council.
For one thing, officials will have to decide what to do with violating signs, one of several concerns raised in a May 17 letter from the South Metro Denver Realtor Association and the Aurora Association of Realtors. The letter asks the council to establish a storage system and provide real estate brokers time to retrieve such signs.
The trade organizations also expressed objections to the 30-foot setback and the exemption for such entities as school districts and homeowners' associations.
David DeElena represented the two groups at the council meeting and underscored the importance of signage to the real estate industry.
"Open houses are critical," he said, calling metro Denver a homebuyer's market. "The Realtors and homeowners have to pull on anything they can to make their homes more available and accessible to those potential buyers."
The letter from the Realtor organizations called the exemption for governments and homeowners' associations "unfair and inequitable" and cited court rulings that have said signs cannot be governed on the basis of content. Michow defended the exemption.
"Frankly put, every regulation that we have in the sign code is to some extent content-based," she said. "The exemption still requires signs to be posted on private property and I think that's a very important distinction to make."
The only change made this week in the ordinance was an amendment proposed by Bosier, who negotiates campaign sign contracts for clients.
Campaign signs can be posted for 60 days - 45 days before an election and 15 days afterward. Per Bosier's motion, which passed 6-3, such postings will still be limited to 60 days, but the split limits will be changed to 55 days before an election and five days afterward.
Bosier argued that the existing limits were a relic of outdated election cycles and insufficient given the increasing popularity of mail-in ballots.
"Because these ballots go out 30 days before Election Day, I think we should adjust this," she said.
The proposal was met with some skepticism from others on the council. Mayor Randy Pye stressed that the sign ordinance, as is, had already been discussed for months in multiple public forums.
"I think we are dangerously close to portraying to the public that we have slipped something by them because this has not been the focus of our open meetings," he said.
Pye voted to approve tahe amendment. The three no votes came from Ward 4 council member Ron Weidmann and Ward 3's Andrea Suhaka and Rebecca McClellan.
City attorney Robert Widner cautioned that Centennial should eventually consider eliminating its duration limits, altogether, in the case of political signs.
"Recent courts have found that durational limits on political signs are unconstitutional because an individual's support for a political position or candidate ...knows no time limit," he said.
Contact Peter Jones at 303-566-4109
or pjones@ccnewspapers.com.
Proposed Centennial Sign Code Changes
The City of Centennial is proposing changes to their sign code ordinance that may have an impact on the way you market property in Centennial.
The SMDRA and AAR REALTORŪ Issues Review and Recommendation Committee met recently with representatives from the Aurora Association of REALTORSŪ Government Affairs Committee regarding this issue and have some concerns about some of the restrictions in the proposal.
SMDRA and AAR are monitoring the ordinance and will take a formal position prior to the first and second readings that are scheduled for April 2 and April 16, 2007.
Please feel free to contact our Governmental Affairs Director, Nick Bokone, nbokone@gmdra.com should you have any questions.