Megan Navarro
DRIPPING SPRINGS — Following multiple discussions on the topic, Dripping Springs City Council approved an updated sign ordinance at its Oct. 21 meeting.
City staff wanted to make changes because they found that some of the processes in the current sign ordinance make it more difficult to interpret and get sign permits, according to city attorney Laura Mueller during an updated report at council’s Oct. 7 meeting. Therefore, leading them — with feedback from community stakeholders — to look at creating a more simplified process for the public, while also maintaining the safety and aesthetics that are important to the city.
Presentation
After providing an update to council during its Oct. 7 meeting, Mueller brought back the ordinance for an official vote on Oct. 21.
Monument
Monument signs are permanently affixed to the ground at its base or by poles that are enclosed by natural stone, stucco, brick or wood and not mounted to a part of a building, according to Mueller’s Oct. 21 presentation. Pole(s) may also be used to construct the sign, as long as they are not visible below the sign.
These have been updated to make it easier and streamlined. So, individuals who are coming to get a monument sign are required to just get one application, regardless of size, Mueller said.
Construction and development
This type of sign is placed on a piece of property advertising planned construction and providing related information, including, but not limited, to the following: name of the contractor, the name of the owner, the planned date of completion and information indicating the future use or occupation of the site.
The major update to the construction and development signs portion of the ordinance is to have annual renewal “since we know that sometimes, 24 months isn’t really something that can be done when you’re building a big subdivision, so now, it’s annual renewals, without the 24-month limitation,” Mueller said, adding that it remains a 48-square-foot maximum.
Real estate
Instead of requiring permits for real estate signs, they will only be needed for the large ones that are up to 32 square feet with eight feet in height. The individual ones often seen in people’s front yards, or for individual units, that are six square feet with three feet in height, will not require a permit, Mueller stated, and it remains until the sale of the unit.
Menu
The city is seeing more electronic menu signs and, in the past, variances were always required. However, because the variances were always approved, with the updated ordinances, the variances will not be needed, as long as requirements are met.
They must comply with the Outdoor Lighting Ordinances, have only two menu signs for each lane — vehicular or pedestrian — and cannot change more than once an hour, otherwise static.
“If they have some small language like, I don’t know if you guys go to Taco Bell or Starbucks, but they’ll list the prices, so, on those, we still allow that, as long as they can’t be seen by the right-of-way,” the city attorney said. “The public right–of-way, it’s based on safety for that purpose, so that’s why we chose public right-of-way. If that’s something we need to drill down on later, we can.”
Banners
One banner is allowed on a nonresidential property at all times, as long as it complies with the following:
Attached to a fence, wall, building or poles/pipes
In good condition
One at a time for each nonresidential property or lot
32 square feet
Additionally, a small — 24 square foot — commercial banner on a nonresidential property is allowed, as long as there is only one at a time for each business or entity, in good condition and affixed to a building, wall or fence.
“You might see multiple small commercial banners for each business, but just the one potential banner per lot,” Mueller said. “In some cases, it will likely be the same property, but if you have a strip center or something and they are already getting a bunch of tenant signs, they would just get the one banner on the property that’s the larger banner, but then, each business could have their own, individual, small commercial banner, which is the 24 foot one.”
Additional changes
Other changes that were also made to the sign ordinance by city staff, according to Mueller, include:
Updated vehicle sign regulations, due to wrapped vehicles
Multiple entrances can have multiple wall or hanging signs — on a corner or has two public customer entrances and exits into the building on different sides in which it is located
Daily display signs in industrial districts do not require permits
Simplified application language to remove duplication
Allows fee variance waivers to be handled by the sign administrator
Nonresidential properties to have parking signs
Added administrative sections to mirror other ordinances
Removed short-length temporary signs with additions of non-time restricted banners, small banners and new business signs
Council discussion
Leading into conversation across the dais, mayor Bill Foulds questioned and asked for clarification on what the poles and pipes mean for some of the signs, using the example of surveyors, who may use two wooden sticks and if that would qualify, or if the city needs to be more clear in its language.
“To me, poles and pipes, those are metal. For construction and development signs, we allow those to be on a four-by-four post, so, to me, if somebody’s putting up something that — banners are not temporary in this sense, they can have it up at any time,” explained building official Shane Pevehouse. “I don’t think anybody’s going to go through the trouble of putting concrete down and doing a four-by-four post, but to do small wooden sticks, that’s probably not the intent of what we are going [for].”
Mueller added that staff is working on the development manual to update it and so, one of the things that can be included is what works as a pipe or pole, but “the main concern isn’t what it’s made out of, but to make sure that it can keep it standing up and look nice, so if you can make it work with wood versus metal, that’s not the concern.”
Council member Geoffrey Tahuahua said that, according to language in the backup documents, businesses are allowed to have up to two menu signs, as long as any change occurs less than once an hour and is static for the remainder of the time.
However, for Starbucks’ sign, for example, it will show what the order is and change whenever someone places a new order. He expressed his concerns for inadvertently making these signs illegal, just because they change fairly frequently.
Deputy city attorney Aniz Alani pointed out the ordinance language, which states that “restaurant menus may have screens that change image, so long as any change occurs less than once an hour and is static the remainder of the time. Restaurant menus may include areas where text changes or images change more frequently, so long as the menu is not visible from public right-of-way.”
The intent was to allow areas on restaurant menu signs where text or images change more frequently, as long as it’s not visible from the public right-of-way, Mueller echoed.
Then, Tahuahua asked how they would define visible from the right-of-way, to which Mueller said it may need to be figured out a little more, but, basically, if someone can see the text moving from the public right-of-way.
“That is something that we could drill down on in the development manual and future iterations of the sign ordinance, but I would just rely on state law at that point, which is the 660 foot from the right-of-way, if [a] question came up and we got a complaint or something, that’s what I would rely on,” Mueller said.
Ultimately, council approved the updated sign ordinance 4-0, with council member Taline Manassian abstaining.
To listen to full recordings of the council meetings, visit www.drippingsprings-tx.municodemeetings.com.
