Planners vote to change sign regulations

Dan Kulin

Thursday, July 29, 2004 | 9:35 a.m.

Boulder City may be banning new billboards and making free speech free.

A split Boulder City Planning Commission voted 4-3 Wednesday to recommend the City Council adopt a revised city sign law that would ban new commercial billboards from property not on land occupied by the business being advertised. The proposed law also would eliminate the current fee for noncommercial signs.

Businesses would still be allowed to have signs on their own property, and the changes would not apply to existing billboards.

"There would be a ban on all off-site advertising, commercial speech," City Community Development Director Brok Armantrout.

"They often advertise businesses that are not in the community, and we have to put up with the blight of the billboards," Armantrout said, noting that casinos might advertise in Boulder City while the city does not allow gambling.

Noncommercial signs, such as political or religious signs, would still be allowed, and the $25 fee individuals now pay for permission to put signs around the city, would be killed, under the proposed law. Size restrictions in place now would remain for those allowed signs.

"We're making free speech free," Armantrout said.

The council is scheduled to first see the proposed law Aug. 10, and vote on the matter Aug. 24. A new law, if approved, would be effective 30 days later.

Armantrout said the primary reason the proposed changes were developed was because the city's sign ordinance hadn't been revised in 16 years. Armantrout said he has been reviewing city laws since he started working for the city 2 1/ 2 months ago.

The proposed changes also come just months after the city was sued by a businessman for denying his application to put four new billboards near the city's two traffic lights.

Armantrout said there are less than 10 billboards in the city, including four that are owned by the city.

City Planning Commissioners Robert Albertelli, Phyllis Bachhuber and Scott Meyer voted against the proposed changes. Karen Knisley, Karl Peddy, Charles Peterson and Chuck Stewart voted to recommend the council approve the revised law.