You will remember from my October column that Louisville, Ky., was to be the site Oct. 16 for the unveiling of new model sign regulations authored by a planner and an attorney/planner. That event indeed took place.
My quick bottom-line: We are making progress.
The authors Alan Weinstein, professor of law and urban planning at Cleveland State University, and David Hartt, head of a Cleveland-based consulting firm, spent more than 90 minutes explaining their findings and recommendations to a room full of planners from Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
The impetus for their work is a contract from The Signage Foundation, Inc., a non-profit group strategically aligned with but separate from the International Sign Association. As Weinstein and Hartt explained, the project’s purpose is to “find an appropriate framework for on-premise sign regulations that respects the different purposes served by on-premise signs,” a framework that “should respect the perspectives of both governmental and business interests.”

KEY CONCEPTS: VISUAL CHARACTER, LEGIBILITY
The first portion of the presentation offered the “context” for sign regulations, with four criteria for on-premise signs cited:
1. “Give business freedom to express its personality and identify goods/services as it sees fit.
2. “Help distinguish the type of business by creative design, color, materials and lighting.
3. “Be compatible with the visual character of the surrounding area.
4. “Be legible in the circumstance in which it is seen.”

Key concepts here are “visual character” and “legible”.

Weinstein and Hartt acknowledged that their model sign regulations were built on the traffic safety principles found in the current edition of Street Graphics and the Law, published by the American Planning Association. The second chapter of Street Graphics is authored by Andy Bertucci, executive director of the United States Sign Council. In that chapter, in algebraic detail, Bertucci summarizes USSC-sponsored research on legibility and traffic safety, offering calculations for appropriate sign area and minimum standards that should be used in higher vehicular traffic areas.

THREE CONCERNS WITH THE STREET GRAPHICS APPROACH
Weinstein and Hartt, however, offered three “concerns with the thoroughfare approach” found in the USSC research as outlined in Street Graphics: (1) “requires significant staff resources to implement” (2) “road widths and/or speeds often change over time requiring changes in regulations” and (3) “roads often controlled by other levels of government.”

The authors’ solution? “Regulate by ‘character areas.’”

The easiest explanation of what a character area entails is to define the distinct character areas suggested by Weinstein and Hartt. They include:

1. Downtown
2.Small, Localized Retail (traditional neighborhood)
3. Small, Localized Retail (suburban)
4. General Commercial
5. Highway Commercial
6. Office Districts
7. Industrial Districts
8. Mixed-Used Developments

Veteran sign companies can readily envision what each of these character areas might include, with the vast difference in appropriate signs for a traditional downtown area versus signs for multi-story offices concentrated in campus-like settings, etc.

DIFFERENT SIGNS AND SIZES BY CHARACTER AREA
The payoff of the character areas proposed by Weinstein and Hartt is that different kinds of signs and different sizes of signs are permitted in each individual character area. How that is done ties back to the USSC-Street Graphics algebra. The authors would base allowed signs on legibility/readability criteria, including:

1. “Distance to be viewed along street, or from street
2. “Travel speed
3. “Angle of vision
4. “Size of letters
5. “Letter spacing and font, and
6. “Ratio of message to background.”

Weinstein and Hartt then offered the core elements of their proposed model sign regulations. First, there should be “separate formulas and size allowances” for signs on buildings, free-standing signs and window signs. Second, there should be bonuses or incentives based on “size of building, building setback, site frontage, and site size.”

MORE LIBERAL METHODOLOGY FOR MEASURING SIGN AREA
If generally accepted by the planning community, one set of recommendations could be compelling. Weinstein and Hartt proposed a more liberal approach to measuring the size of a sign, allowing for (not penalizing) geometric shapes, logos and other possible non-sign architectural features.
Also, the authors suggested numerical standards for sign sizes, particular to a character area and type of sign. The planners at the Louisville presentation took home sets of standards for (1) signs permitted by character area (2) numerical standards for wall signs (3) numerical standards for height of free-standing signs and (4) numerical standards for total area for free-standing signs.

STILL OUT: STANDARDS FOR EMCs
The only area not completed yet, according to Weinstein and Hartt, are standards and recommendations for electronic message signs. This comes as no surprise as EMC regulation is vastly more complicated and more heated politically in communities. But a reasonable observer could hope that EMCs could find a place in many (but probably not all) of the character areas defined.

The work presented is a significant step forward for two reasons. First, the idea of character areas and permitted signs per area should strike planners as conceptually sound. Second, the model sign regulations offered build on the impressive legacy of USSC traffic safety and legibility research. That’s great to see–everyone in the sign industry wins from this improved alignment between the two major sign associations.
While there are details still forthcoming, the first look at the core elements of this new model sign code suggests an effort that could be richly rewarding for the on-premise sign industry in the coming years.

The Fine Print: This column is meant to explore issues of importance to the sign industry and your business. I am not offering legal advice. Consult with your attorney or other business advisor before considering any of the ideas discussed in this column.