Sign language: Planners hope to change laws to dress up businesses’ appearance

Diana Sahagun

Monday, July 1, 2002 | 10:56 a.m.

Business owners will do just about anything to sell their message to the public -- even turn a giant vacuum cleaner into a sign beckoning customers.

It may be a draw to the eye, but Las Vegas officials say it's an illegal sign -- a sight that is common in some of the city's older commercial corridors that were built more than 20 years ago.

Las Vegas planners hope to curb the sporadic use of signs in new commercial developments by revamping the city's 5-year-old sign ordinance and introducing changes that would require signs to be more compatible with surrounding areas.

Drivers may not notice an immediate change, but city planners say if the changes are adopted by the council on July 17, the overall appearance of new signs in the community will start to improve.

"It's an evolutionary process," said John Koswan, planning manager for the city. "You won't walk outside one day and go, 'Oh my gosh, look at what we've done.' But you're going to start noticing incremental change."

After months of working with the Nevada Sign Association -- made up of local sign companies -- planners are proposing changes to the city's sign code relating to on-premise signs that would offer incentives to business owners who lower the height of their signs, and give more guidance on how signs should look.

The code would not affect off-premise signs, such as billboards. It would also not affect signs in master-planned communities such as Summerlin and Town Center, where sign standards are approved by way of a development agreement.

The sign industry is backing the new code, but officials remain at an impasse with planners regarding a supplemental ordinance that would require business owners with nonconforming signs -- such as the vacuum, near Charleston Boulevard and Eastern Avenue -- to remove them within 15 years.

"We don't agree with a draconian provision that requires the sign to be removed after the mere passage of time, regardless of what the property owner is doing to the property," said David Jones, vice president of Young Electric Sign Company.

"There are businesses that have visibility only because of their sign. If they end up losing their sign, it could negatively affect their ability to do business," he said.

Jones said the proposed changes are not as strict as codes adopted in neighboring cities such as North Las Vegas, but are compatible with Clark County. City planners had originally proposed a more stringent code that required a reduction in the height of signs, but it was overwhelmingly opposed by the sign industry and dropped from the proposal at the Planning Commission level.

Signs are currently allowed to be up to 40 feet. Developers can apply with the city for a special permit if they want taller signs.

The new code offers incentives for developers who use monument signs -- freestanding signs where the base of the sign structure is on the ground. The code also sets new standards to make signs more architecturally compatible with the features on-site.

"We're trying to get away from the typical 'lollipop' signs," Koswan said. "We want to improve their appearance."

Koswan added that the code is meant to go beyond an aesthetic issue and also ensure public safety, so people looking for a business are guided clearly to their destination.

The ordinance asks developers to use materials, textures and finishes that complement the architecture of the buildings on the same site.

It also prohibits pennants, inflatable signs, tethered balloons and portable signs, which are already deemed illegal under the current code.

Another significant part of the code would be the enforcement of illegal signs that are put up after the code is adopted.

Koswan said while bigger sign companies will not sell illegal signs because they know the city code, smaller vendors will sell any type of sign.

The Nevada Sign Association is working with the city to come up with an agreement where the sign companies would assist in identifying new signs that are illegal and have them removed.

"We agree that there are some signs that are out there that are eyesores because they are abandoned or haven't been kept up," said Jones, of YESCO. "We as an industry are concerned about the appearance of the community."

Robert James Claus, a consultant for the International Sign Association, said there are two trends in cities relating to signs -- one, where cities assert control over the "speech" of the merchants by regulating the content or location, and another, which is more flexible.

Claus said signage is what Las Vegas is all about, and rather than adopt more restrictive rules, the city should be building on what it has accomplished for decades.

"I think it's too bad that instead of people looking at the brilliance that Las Vegas has brought to the planning community, people are attacking this brilliance with absolutely no proof that it's a benefit," Claus said.

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