Zoners reject sign language

Monday, 16 April 2007 01:44

From: Kingman Daily Miner, 2007-04-12 Nicholas Wilbur Miner Staff Writer KINGMAN - Five months into the debate, it looked Tuesday as though a clearly defined policy on off-premises advertising was going to make its way to the City Council for approval. But the Planning & Zoning Commission, which provides recommendations to Council, rejected both of the planning staff's options for off-site billboards in Kingman, ruling that they were potentially hazardous to local businesses and sales tax revenue, the city's lifeblood. Development Services Director Gary Jeppson brought two options to the Commission Tuesday. One recommended complete prohibition of any additional billboards in Kingman. The other limited signage on Interstate 40 and proposed expanding the current spacing between signs from 300 feet to 500 feet. In his report, he acknowledged the concern that businesses could suffer without billboard advertising, but said, "there is no evidence that the communities without billboards suffer to a greater degree than those communities with billboards." Nonetheless, the Commission viewed both options as too harsh. "(Options) one and two don't answer the question," Commissioner Dave Adams said. Instead, the Commission voted unanimously for option three, which is to recommend that City Council create a study group that takes a more business-friendly approach to off-premises sign regulations. For a town that survives on sales taxes, local businesses not located on Route 66 or Stockton Hill Road could suffer without the ability to advertise with billboards outside of their locations, one commissioner said. And as the city grows, it will only become more difficult. "What's the lifeblood of the city?" Commissioner Mike Schoeff asked at the monthly meeting Tuesday. "It's sales tax, correct? What is a better way to generate sales tax than to advertise? That's what feeds the city of Kingman." P&Z Commission Chairwoman Dorian Trahan noted that "there are multiple ways to advertise." She acknowledged that she held the minority opinion, but stated for the record, "I'm totally against off-premises signs." The rest of the Commission felt that Jeppson's options were limited in scope, having not included input from Kingman business patrons, and that they were potentially harmful to sales tax revenue if businesses weren't able to advertise beyond newspaper ads, the Internet and with signs on their own property. "I do believe there is room for more signs," Vice Chairman Schoeff said. "It's going to drive business, and that's what this is all about, driving business." Commissioner Jim Cave seconded Schoeff's sentiments, and he expressed his support for a representative from Lamar Advertising who questioned the intent of the regulations and inquired about the effects to the city. Cave proposed that a study group be created, one that would include local business owners and Christina Butler, the Lamar Advertising representative who protested the regulations Tuesday. "Just saying you can't have a sign doesn't do anybody any good," Cave said. A recommendation for a more business-oriented policy, one that would allow signs but not allow "over-doing it," is now on its way to the City Council for review and action. This debate started in November when Council realized the vagueness of the current signage code and asked that Jeppson create some clarifications and recommendations to the code. As the agenda is already out for the next Council meeting on Monday, the issue will be revisited May 7 at the earliest.