Signs

on Fayetteville businesses now have slightly

clearer regulations after last week's passage by

the City Council of amendments to the sign

ordinance.

The

main area addressed is the matter of what can be

posted outside a business, according to Chief

Planner Todd Miller.

Businesses

are now allowed 5 percent of the building facade

for signage facing the road, or 7.5 percent if

the building is on a double-frontage lot, Miller

said. The ordinance previously had varying

stipulations based on how far the building stood

from the right-of-way, and now the guidelines are

the same for all.

This

helps because some business owners can easily

become confused as to just exactly where the

right-of-way is, Miller said. This was one of the

areas where problems were first noticed in the

Main Street sign ordinance, and continued study

led to changes for businesses all over the city.

Practically

all outdoor signage already required special

permission from the city, even on a temporary

basis. Banners advertising special sales are now

permitted twice a year, Miller said.

During

recent City Council discussions on the

amendments, a concern that continued to surface

was what could happen if a business changed

ownership. One business owner in particular was

concerned because he has a variance on a ground

sign, and he did not know if he could sell the

business without the next owner being in

violation.

Miller

said that a sign variance is not like a setback

variance or some other policy pertaining directly

to the land, in that it cannot be passed from one

owner to the next.

Some

signs erected before 1991 can be nonconforming,

since they were grandfathered when the original

ordinance was passed. They are fine as they are,

but owners of these signs cannot make certain

changes to them without bringing them into

compliance, Miller said.

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