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Belleair Bluffs sign code overhaul approved
By WAYNE AYERS
Article published on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 |
BELLEAIR BLUFFS – A comprehensive overhaul of the city’s sign code was approved unanimously at Monday night’s City Commission meeting.
The nearly 40-page ordinance has been in the works for more than two years. Earlier in the evening, the city’s Planning Commission gave its approval to the document.
After the meeting, Assistant City Attorney Shauna Morris, who prepared the sign ordinance, described its intent. She said the ordinance brings the city’s sign code in line with all of the most recent court decisions. Sign definitions were modernized and new types of signs were addressed. For example, the code prohibits LED signs, wall wraps and holographic signs.
Morris said the new regulations maintain the types of aesthetics that give Belleair Bluffs its character and charm while still attracting new businesses to the commercial district.
“I was told by one commissioner early on that the city needed a new sign code so we don’t look like Times Square,” she said.
A provision of the code outlawing balloons, even temporarily, was objected to by Ellen Haas, owner of Home Scentsations on West Bay Drive. Haas said she was cited for displaying one balloon to call attention to her recently opened shop. Her customers have told her the balloon caught their eye as they were driving by. City businesses are hurting due to the economy and need devices like the balloons to attract customers, she said.
Public Works Director Robert David told Haas that balloons are not allowed under the current or new sign code. Any changes to the code will have to be workshopped by the commission, Mayor Chris Arbutine said.
Commissioner Robert Russo said the balloon prohibition has been in the code for the past 40 years and was adopted because the city is a bird sanctuary.
Residents to be allowed two dish antennas
Residents may now have two satellite dish antennas. They had previously been allowed one. The change to the city’s land development code was made after the Dish network began requiring two antennas for additional channels, David said.
“If we don’t pass this, we will force 43 residents to get rid of a satellite dish,” he said.
The DirectTV system only requires one dish, David said.
The commission voted 3-1 to allow the extra dish. Commissioner David Shimkus was opposed, and Commissioner Hunt Brand was absent. Shimkus said the rules could change early next year with the switch to HDTV.
Antenna debate goes on
An ongoing tug-of-war between the city and an amateur radio operator over antennas erected on his property took a new turn at the meeting. Steve Yudell told the commission he had enlisted the financial and legal support of the American Radio Relay League in his battle with the city, raising the possibility of a lawsuit over the matter.
Yudell posed a series of questions to Mayor Chris Arbutine related to actions taken by the city to restrict or remove his antennas. Yudell said he had gotten written permission in 2001 to have a radio tower, and was later fined for having it. He said he had a nonconforming use waiver for his antennas and yet was cited and ordered to appear before the special master.
The city has engaged in “unequal and inconsistent code enforcement” and violated state and federal law, Yudell said.
Arbutine declined to respond to Yudell’s accusations, but Commissioner Robert Russo had some forceful comments on the subject. Russo asked Yudell if he knows the city code regarding antenna requirements. He said neighbors were “complaining all over about the antennas.” Responding to the talk of legal action against the city, Russo challenged Yudell to “Sue us!”
Energy saving vehicle stricken from budget
A request made by Robert David to acquire an energy-efficient utility vehicle to be used in city maintenance work was denied in a 1-3 commission vote. Only Mayor Arbutine supported the authorization.
The vehicle, described by Arbutine as a motorized golf cart, costs $5,200 and gets 50 miles per gallon, David said. It would be purchased in lieu of a truck, which had been budgeted at $22,000.
Shimkus said budget constraints made it hard to support the expenditure. Resident Darlene Cavanaugh told David to get a pool cart or moped.
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Article published on Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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