870-04 Amend LDC re. Signs - Laserfiche WebLink

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OR BK 5816 PG 1595.. 2 of 24 (4) Signs being constructed and placed without first obtaining proper permits for them or permission of the owner or occupant of the property on which the signs are placed; (5) Signs failing to be properly maintained once erected and placed; and (6) Signs that are placed dangerously in or near street intersections and rights-of- way, driveway access points and rights of ways, or intersections in parking lots so as to pose actual or potential hazards to traffic and pedestrians. (d) The City Council further finds that numerous municipalities and counties around the state and country have enacted sign control ordinances. These local governments have found that regulation of on-site signs benefits their communities by improving aesthetics and traffic control. Every level of court from the United States Supreme Court to state trial courts has upheld these findings of public purpose. The City Council adopts the findings of these numerous local governments. (e) Unregulated and uncontrolled signs cause distractions in traffic flow and create traffic safety problems. In addition, they lower the levels of service on city and county roads by slowing traffic. (f) Scholarly writings and studies indicate that clutter of uncontrolled and unregulated signs creates an environment which can financially injure a community. Unregulated and uncontrolled signs can injure the aesthetic appearance of a_city and thereby lower property values and the tax base. (g) The City Council, in regulating on-site signs, recognizes that businesses need some form of on-site sign to identify the use of property. WHEREAS, based on a review of recent legal authority and upon the direction of the City Council, City staff has developed proposed revisions to the City's sign regulations, in the Land Development Code; and WHEREAS, the purpose of these revisions is to clarify the intent of the existing sign regulations and further ensure that the regulations are consistent with all controlling laws, providing viewpoint neutral regulation of all signs in the City and providing, in all instances, that noncommercial speech is no more limited than commercial speech; and WHEREAS, pursuant to law, notice has been given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the County, notifying the public of this proposed ordinance and of a public hearing; and WHEREAS, a public hearing before the City Council was held pursuant to the published notice described above, at which the parties in interest and all other citizens so desiring has an opportunity to be and were in fact heard; and 2