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TO: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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FROM: |
J. B. Culpepper, Planning Director |
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SUBJECT: |
Response to Citizen Petition on Pending Land Use Management Ordinance Text Amendments on Signs and Outdoor Lighting |
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DATE: |
February 23, 2009 |
Tonight the Council receives a staff response to a December 8, 2008 citizen petition on the pending Land Use Management Ordinance text amendments (LUMOTAs) regarding signs and outdoor lighting.
We propose to provide a more detailed report in June about a process for developing and considering text amendments regarding signs and outdoor lighting.
On December 8, 2008, the staff recommended a public hearing schedule for several text amendments. We had tentatively recommended scheduling a January 26 public hearing for a signage text amendment, and a March 16 public hearing for an outdoor lighting text amendment. During the December meeting, the Council received a citizen letter in which a citizen suggested expanding the scope of the discussion on both lighting and signs. He suggested the development of the text amendment proposals include input from advisory boards and representatives from the business community, including the Chamber of Commerce. The Council referred the items back to the staff.
In addition to the issues raised in the citizen’s letter, there are two Town-initiated lighting efforts underway. Multiple aspects of outdoor lighting are of concern to the Town. Recognizing that the issues regarding signs and lighting are larger in scope than we had initially envisioned and that input from the business community would be beneficial, we propose arranging discussions with the business community, Town staff (including the departments of Parks and Recreation, Police, Planning, and Public Works), and other downtown streetscape stakeholders as we develop a framework for proposed changes to the outdoor lighting provisions. We recommend similar discussions with the business community regarding amending the sign regulations. Both processes would involve additional time. We would like to propose a community involvement process and schedule to the Council in June.
Staff Recommendation: We recommend that the Council receive this report and that we report in June on a process for developing and considering proposed text amendments for outdoor lighting and signs.
1. Letter from citizen (p. 3).