By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The City of Howell’s sign ordinance is undergoing a major overhaul.

Proposed changes were presented to the Planning Commission back in October, which members have been reviewing since. The goal is to update the ordinance to modern standards and address legal issues that have come up over the years. The Commission met virtually Wednesday night and discussed various aspects and some minor language changes. It was stated that political signs are addressed in the ordinance as being a temporary ground sign. Some focus was put on the size and timeframes for temporary signs but the larger conversation was centered on whether to allow or ban electronic message signs (EMS). The latter was described as really and “all or nothing” proposition because allowing them or certain uses is largely viewed as regulating content.

The draft language currently includes a section allowing electronic message signs, which would be subject to different standards and requirements. Another consideration would be whether they would have one color or full color capability. It was stated the current extent of the EMS are gas pricing signs with red and green for diesel and then drive-thru sings, which are allowed full color signage right now. Staff noted that’s something that needs to be changed to be more equitable based on a court decision but the broader question for commissioners is how to proceed with the EMS signs in general. The signs could be limited to certain districts and it seemed as though the majority of members favored not permitting the signs in the CBD but potentially other areas of the city.

Commissioner Nathan Voght said that many are done very poorly, even though they would regulate the size of the electronic portion of the sign to 25% of the sign which would help make them look less gaudy and the light be smaller. Voght said he just notices that the signs malfunction, burn out, are too bright or too dim, and are distracting general. He said it just seemed like permitting the signs would be setting up the City for a super big challenge with enforcement as it gets very technical.

Community Development Director Tim Schmitt commented that there would be a difficult enforcement challenge and it wouldn’t be easy but they would figure it out. It was stated there are a couple of signs in town that would be considered existing non-conforming signs under the new ordinance – meaning they would be permitted to remain until such time the owners wanted to change them.

There was also some discussion about abandoned signs. New language states that any sign located on property in the City that has been vacant or unused for more than 120 days shall be presumed to be abandoned. From that point, an owner would have 60 days to respond. Schmitt commented the idea is that first the sign has been essentially abandoned and then staff would make contact to try and make them do something. He said the owner would then prove abandonment by not responding. Questions were raised about vacant buildings with signs.

Schmitt said getting someone to remove a structure will be sticky but he thinks they’ll take a run at it with the new language. He said they have talked about a couple of signs in town that they may have conversations with the owners about under the new language. He said it could be difficult to prove but added it’s not like they would keep going after people every three or four months – it would be more focused of years and years of not used signs.

It was agreed to leave the EMS provision in the ordinance for now as some commissioners wanted more input from the planner and potential recommendations about liability before making a decision and moving forward with finalizing language.

Staff will now finalize the input and update the draft ordinance, which is expected to be revisited at the next meeting.