(3/10) Businesses, residents and Commissioners were presented with the second portion of changes to the town’s proposed sign ordinance during the March 4, Emmitsburg town meeting.

Last month, businesses were outraged at the proposed sign ordinance that was not only presented as a lengthy 60-page document, but was written in such a legalistically-minded manner that most had a hard time reading it, let alone understanding it. Local business owners banned together following the first presentation to show town staff and Commissioners that they needed to take the time to consider the document and its new implications on businesses in town.

At the end of February, the EBPA met, with Town Planner Zachary Gulden in attendance, to answer EBPA members’ questions regarding the proposed ordinance. According to Don Sonn, co-owner of Emmitsburg Tattoo, town staff seemed willing to place the ordinance on hold until the voices of businesses are heard. In response to the interest shown by businesses, Gulden has proposed conducting a series of meetings with all four zoning districts at the town office to answer any questions that both citizens and business owners may have. The meetings may hopefully help present the ordinance in a more easily understood language.

Additionally, the third presentation covering the last portion of the proposed sign ordinance has been pushed back until June. Town staff and Commissioners need to take the majority of April and May to discuss the budget for the next fiscal year. After the final presentation is complete, town staff assured residents and businesses that the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission will look at the proposed document before the board takes a vote. The process, in its entirety, is nowhere near completion.

Prior to discussion on the second part of the ordinance, Commissioner Elizabeth Buckman questioned the validity of the Supreme Court Case Reed vs. town of Gilbert that was presented in February as the root cause for making the proposed changes to the sign ordinance. The case in question was concerned with censoring the content of a temporary sign. How did the town make the jump from this case to completely changing its own sign ordinance? Town Manager Cathy Willets said that this Supreme Court case, along with several other cases, pertained to an overall recommendation to keep the town’s signs in uniformity. Since Emmitsburg’s ordinance was over twenty-one years old, Willets noted that recommendations also pertained to coming more in line with modern technology and advertising.

According to Gulden, since the meetings held in February, the originally proposed 60-page document has been decreased to 34 pages. This document consists of 27 pages of actual legislation; the remaining pages are definitions. "Staff is trying to make this new ordinance business friendly," stated Gulden.

With several business owners in attendance at the March meeting, town staff moved forward with the second presentation, which covered illuminated signs. In the town’s current ordinance pertaining to signs, businesses within the village zone are only allowed to have one internally illuminated sign on each road frontage, with a maximum size of 12 x 24 inches. This is the only regulation regarding illuminated signs currently in place. The new sign code, as presented, would allow four types of illuminated signs: internal, external, digital and message center signs. The ordinance would also set time periods of illumination and would not allow illuminated temporary signs.

In addition to the illuminated signs, the new ordinance proposed the allowance of off-premises signs for businesses. Billboard signs were proposed in certain zones including general commercial; office, research and industrial; industrial park; and property along Route 15.

The zoning district meetings will be held throughout April, as follows: April 8, Village zone; April 15, Institutional zone; April 22, R1, R2, R3 zones; April 29, B1, B2, Industrial Park and OIR zones. The meetings will be held on the above dates from 9 a.m. – noon. Town staff is looking to add additional meetings in the evenings for residents.