SPRINGDALE : Council OKs Huntsville sign limits, delays billboard
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
SPRINGDALE — The City Council on Tuesday approved sign regulations for Huntsville Avenue, but for the second meeting in a row, a procedural vote was used to stave off a billboard ban.
An otherwise quiet meeting became contentious when the ban came up for discussion.
The ordinance setting the restriction was only read twice, meaning a third and final reading is pending. Before the vote was cast, Perry Webb, president of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce, had a few choice words for Alderman Kathy Jaycox, a lead proponent of the ban.
“I think we are practicing bad government when we start banning legitimate businesses,” Webb said.
The ban would allow all existing billboards to be “grandfathered” into compliance with the city code. Existing signs couldn’t be made larger, however, and if one was to be disassembled for more than six months, it would become illegal.
A sign damaged beyond 50 percent of its sign face couldn’t be replaced unless a hardship variance is granted by the Springdale Planning Commission.
Jaycox, reading from minutes taken at a recent meeting of the chamber’s executive committee, looked at Webb and said, “This ordinance does everything your own board wants it to do.” Webb told Jaycox that he was not misrepresenting his board, and that ban was a major point of concern for the business community.
The restrictions along Huntsville, on the other hand, were approved after an attempt to amend the ordinance.
The regulations on Huntsville are the same as those approved for Wagon Wheel Road, known as the northern corridor, and Don Tyson Parkway, the southern corridor. Huntsville is the designated central corridor.
On Huntsville, ground-based monument signs can be no taller than eight feet and can be no larger than 100 square feet. The display area must be enclosed with materials that match the main material used in the exterior finish of the site’s primary structure.
The restrictions run from just east of U. S. 71 Business along Huntsville east to Butterfield Coach Road then south to Don Tyson Parkway.
Alderman Jeff Watson wanted to reduce the restrictions to a shorter portion of the road, but the amendment failed.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
