Council begins review of billboard/sign ordinance; staff to return with comparative analysis

Councilmembers and staff discussed a developer’s request to amend the city’s sign standards for billboards along Interstate 35, focusing on whether to loosen conditional-use permit triggers, height and stacking rules, maintenance renewal requirements and access standards for emergency vehicles.

Why it matters: Changes to billboard rules along I-35 would affect the city’s highway frontage appearance, future land-use compatibility and the regulatory process for other applicants; council asked staff to provide comparative research before any code amendments proceed.

Planning staff explained that two instances currently trigger a conditional-use permit (CUP): signs taller than the city’s 30-foot height limit (up to 50 feet) and vertically stacked sign faces. Staff said other changes requested by a sign company would, if adopted, make it easier to site taller or stacked billboards near the interstate. Planning staff also flagged a five-year maintenance/inspection filing requirement: local governments must rely on local code to ensure signs remain structurally sound because state inspectors do not proactively inspect every sign along I-35.

On the question of dust-free access, a staff speaker said the requirement is intended to ensure emergency vehicles can access a sign location during construction or to respond to incidents and that the term “dust-free” can be satisfied by treated aggregate rather than full paving; in the fire district’s view the surface must hold heavy apparatus (75,000 pounds). Council members raised the broader policy choice: whether Gardner wants to permit the most intense possible signage (for example, multiple double-stack billboards and an electronic sign) along the I-35 corridor or to retain restrictions to control placement and visual impacts. Several members said they preferred to remove the specific applicant from the policy question and asked staff to return with a matrix comparing state, county and city requirements and a recommended process for changes.

No code change was adopted; staff will prepare the comparative analysis and present it at a future council meeting and the planning commission process would be required for zoning code amendments.