STANWOOD – Signs in town were getting too flashy to comply with city codes, but attempts to fix the problem have left some students feeling like they’re in the dark.
Stanwood High School has turned off its electronic reader board after being notified that it violated the city code restricting “flashing signs.”
“No sign or other advertising structure shall have lights or illuminations that flash, move, rotate, scintillate, blink, flicker, vary in intensity or color, or use intermittent electronic pulsations,” according to the code, which was written in 1995.
The school’s electronic sign features a black background with red letters that can change constantly. That’s too flashy for the code, the city decided recently.
Some students are upset. They are circulating a petition to the city to grant the school district an exemption. For them, the sign is a quick reference to school activities. And besides, as the petition says, the sign cost $30,000 in student and school funds.
The city is trying to work out a compromise that would be fair to at least two other businesses with similar electronic reader boards. The city is not requiring them or the school to turn off the signs, but messages can be changed only once every 24 hours.
But school administrators have opted to completely turn off the sign until the matter can be clarified, said Jane McGeehan, assistant superintendent of the Stanwood-Camano School District.
Stephanie Hansen, the city’s planning director, said she was asked to make an administrative interpretation of the code several weeks ago after two newer electronic reader boards were installed by a business and a health clinic facing Highway 532.
She had hoped the 24-hour limit would strike a compromise. The signs get to remain on without violating the spirit of the city’s code restriction on flashy signs. The code was designed so signs wouldn’t distract drivers, she said.
“We made the interpretation that we thought was pretty flexible, and for whatever reason, the high school has decided that their response was to turn the sign off,” Hansen said.
But having only one message run for 24 hours is difficult for the high school, McGeehan said. With all the activities that sports teams, clubs and other student groups have going on any given day, putting one group’s event on the sign would not be fair to the others, McGeehan said.
“Students want it to have messages more than one every 24 hours,” McGeehan said. “You would think that that sign would be for an external audience, but one student told me, ‘It’s one of our ways of letting students know what’s going on.’ “
The city code came as a surprise to people at the school, because no mention was made of it when the city granted the school district a permit for the sign in 2003, McGeehan said.
That’s true, Hansen acknowledged. The issue came up as more electronic reader boards started to pop up. The code was written 11 years ago before such electronic signs were common.
“Codes are like that. Technology changes,” Hansen said.
In December, after she decided on the 24-hour interpretation, Hansen sent letters explaining the rule to businesses and the school district, to treat everybody equally, she said.
Now, the Stanwood City Council and Mayor Dianne White have agreed to consider other solutions. The council remanded the matter to the city’s planning commission to see whether the code needed updating.
The council would make the final decision.
Hansen said she would appreciate the council’s direction.
“I think it would be good to have the code be clearer,” Hansen said.
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@ heraldnet.com.
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