Businesses may soon be able to display signs anywhere on their property under an 18-month pilot program the Mill Creek City Council is considering.
The council July 7 will consider temporarily relaxing regulations for post-style business signs on a trial basis.
Today, the city allows one post-style sign, of up to 4 feet high, per business. The sign frame, post and base have to be black and the sign also has to be removed during non-business hours.
Under the proposal, one of five the council considered June 23, an unlimited number of temporary signs could be displayed on business property, though only one sign would be allowed per business.
The program could make it easier for retail centers, such as QFC Plaza at 164th Street Southeast and Ninth Avenue Southeast, to add signs to different parts of their property. Current regulations say post signs have to be within 15 feet of a business entrance, though some exceptions have been made.
The owners of Elegant Clutter, a retail shop in the Zen Garden Center, 16300 Mill Creek Blvd., appealed an April decision by the city to not allow that business to place a post-style sign 150 feet from its front door, next to the main street, where owners said it was easier for passing motorists to see it.
A hearing examiner heard their appeal June 30.
Community Development Director Bill Trimm laid out five alternatives for the council:
• No change.
• An 18-month pilot program allowing signs to be posted up to 150 feet from the building.
• An 18-month pilot program allowing an unlimited number of temporary signs (though only one sign per business would be allowed).
• An 18-month pilot program allowing no more than four signs per business center, with businesses responsible for coordinating the display.
• Choosing one of the pilot program options but making it permanent.
Councilwoman Donna Michelson said she likes the idea of an 18-month pilot program that would go through December 2010, but didn’t like the idea of leaving it up to landlords to police themselves.
“I believe this is a city issue,” she said. “We should be able to stand behind whatever position we take and I don’t think we should leave it up to the landlord.”
Mill Creek has looked closely at its sign regulations before.
In December 2002, a Sign Code Review Committee issued a 23-page report. The committee recommended specific requirements for freestanding (monument), wall-mounted and temporary signs. It also recommended not allowing A-frame signs, popular in many cities.
The 2002 committee, made up of business owners, city leaders and community volunteers, also identified challenges facing decision-makers. Those challenges included defining what is appropriate, balancing the needs of residents and businesses, enforcement, free speech, clear size definitions, placement and location, and proximity guidelines, among others.
Councilwoman Mary Kay Voss cautioned that business owners or landlords may sometimes be too quick to blame business success on the strength of a sign. Often, she said, business owners don’t know where their customers come from.
“I would encourage businesses to keep track. Ask: ‘How did you find us?’,” she said.
Voss said the city should consider making economic development a higher priority and she pointed to University Place, in Pierce County, as an example of a city that focuses heavily on economic development.
Councilman Mark Bond encouraged fellow city leaders to “be out of the way of business.”
“I want the minimum regulations,” he said. “We want to be as friendly as we can with folks, especially when they’re hurting.”
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