Only City Council approval on second and final reading remains before the years of work and countless hours of discussions culminates in major amendments to the Englewood sign code.
The council is scheduled to take up the issue on second reading during the meeting that will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 4 in the council chambers. The council chambers are located on the second floor of the Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway.
The effort to amend the sign code began in 2004, but the process picked up steam in 2009 when residents and members of the business community told the city the sign code was too complex and outdated and didn’t meet the needs of local businesses.
In October 2009, the council enacted a moratorium, which was a temporary suspension of enforcement of portions of the sign code while work was done on code amendments.
Tricia Langon, senior planner, told the council Aug. 20 that the Englewood Planning and Zoning Commission took up the issue, and it was discussed in a total of 11 study sessions and public hearings.
The council addressed the proposed amendments earlier this year. The study session discussion was in April and, when the issue was taken up for first reading, the council raised a number of issues and postponed first reading until Aug. 6.
The City Council worked out some issues before passing the amendments on first reading Aug. 6. The second of the three-step process occurred Aug. 20 when the council held a public hearing on the proposed legislation.
Langon presented the staff report at public hearing. She said the amendments are designed to meet the advertising needs of the business community, to create regulations that can be enforced, to balance aesthetics with the advertising needs of the businesses and to create codes that can be successfully defended legally.
Two people spoke at the public hearing.
The first was Steve Richards of Mile High Outdoor Advertising. He first said it was nice to see sign code changes designed to help business. He then asked the council to at least sit down with him and discuss the sign code’s ban on billboards in the appropriate location, which he identified as along South Santa Fe Drive.
The second and final speaker was A. J. Guinella, of John Elway Chevrolet. He confirmed that the amendments allowed balloons and thanked the city for its work because a sign code was necessary to keep Englewood looking good.