City Hall considers banning ugly. Except for three months a year

After receiving dozens of complaints about portable signs being "cheap-looking," "unappealing" and "a major eyesore," Sault Ste. Marie City Hall is proposing a crackdown.

A draft bylaw presented today to local sign companies, business owners and citizens proposes to address the problem by allowing only 30-day permits for portable signs, with a mandatory 21-day hiatus before another permit can be obtained.

A business would be allowed just three 30-day permits a year on its property.

A minimum 25-metre separation would be required between a portable sign and any other sign on the same property.

Currently, portable sign permits are valid for two years and the minimum separation between signs is 15 metres.

"The proliferation of portable signage appears to be the single biggest sign issue in Sault Ste. Marie," said Peter Tonazzo of the city's planning department in a report to Mayor Provenzano and city councillors.

"Locally, portable signs have become permanent fixtures," Tonazzo said.

"The permanent nature of portable signs and their sheer numbers are due in part to the current regulations, which allow them to stay in place indefinitely, so long as a permit is renewed every two years."

"The movable nature of portable signs makes enforcement difficult given the resources available."

"The recent proliferation of portable signs utilized for off-site or third-party advertising has also increased their overall numbers," Tonazzo said.

Tourism Sault Ste. Marie considers the proliferation of portable signs here to be "almost a blight on the landscape" and it has asked the city to consider an outright ban.

But the city's signs bylaw committee isn't prepared to go that far, believing that portable signage can be a very cost-effective form of advertising for local businesses, but only on a temporary or event-based basis,

Portable signs are not designed to be permanent fixtures and they often blow over during heavy winds, even with ugly cinder blocks attached to each corner, Tonazzo added.

Enforcement is another issue.

"Current enforcement protocol requires the bylaw enforcement officer to notify the portable sign owner prior to enforcement. This procedure has resulted in a game of cat-and-mouse, whereby once contacted, the owner simply moves the sign to another location, which may also be an illegal location. The process then repeats with no real resolution."

Tonazzo suggests that the additional bylaw enforcement resources needed could be paid by increasing sign permit fees.

He estimates that 25 percent of a full-time bylaw enforcement officer's time will be needed initially, with decreased enforcement requirements after that.

If the proposed changes are approved, portable signs will only be allowed on the relevant business site: off-site third-party advertising will no longer be permitted.

The signs will also no longer be allowed on the road right-of-way.

The city's existing signs bylaw hasn't been overhauled for more than 40 years and is considered seriously out-of-date.

A comprehensive review of the bylaw has been underway for more than two years, including a survey, public open houses and meetings with stakeholders.

The most recent meetings took place today, including consultations with sign industry representatives and an evening open house.

Portable sign companies were upset at the proposed changes and advised that they will be returning with alternative policies for consideration.

The final draft of the bylaw will be presented to City Council at its next regular meeting on August 22.

Other provisions in the draft signs bylaw presented at tonight's meeting include:

• overhanging, projecting signs would be allowed along Gore and Queen Streets downtown. At present, they are not allowed.
• digital readerboards (text only) will no longer require a safety review to be installed near an intersection. LED (digital tv signs) will still require a safety review.
• A-frame signs must only be used during actual hours of operation of the businesses they advertise.
• Digital signs must not use visual effects such as motion, fading, dissolving, flashing or blinking. The current sign bylaw states this but Tonazzo says that very few digital signs in the Sault are in compliance. Digital signs should resemble static signs, except for a quick transition every 15 seconds, he says.