Marietta, OH Wants to Simplify its Sign Code

The Marietta, OH, City Council is scrutinizing its sign ordinances, reported the Marietta Times. Councilman Jon Grimm, R-3rd Ward and chairman of the council’s planning and zoning committee, proposed simplifying the city’s sign ordinances.
Currently, Grimm said, 12 ordinances regulate signs in the city.
"I think one of the keys to attracting business is to have consistent and reasonable regulations," Grimm was quoted in the paper. "Our sign ordinances are neither consistent nor reasonable,"
Grimm asked fellow committee members to review the ordinances to see what changes they would recommend.
Charlotte Keim, president and CEO of the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce, offered to act as a liaison between the city and businesses. She said the major complaint was that the regulations are confusing and outdated, and the permit process is cumbersome.
One ordinance still contains language that requires signs that existed on December 1, 1977, in the 100 and 200 blocks of Putnam St., and didn’t conform to the ordinance to be in compliance by 1987.
Also, sandwich-board regulations set a size (32 x 38 in.) that’s no longer standard.
Existing laws prohibit signs projecting from buildings. Past business owners had tried to outdo their neighbors’ signs, which caused visual clutter. For this reason, and for safety, they were banned.
A barbershop was recently told it couldn’t put up a traditional striped pole because it violated a sign ordinance.