Council Subcommittee

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, OCTOBER 15, 2019, AT 7:00 A.M., ROOM 236, 90 EAST CIVIC CENTER DRIVE, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Chair Brigette Peterson, Vice Mayor Eddie Cook and Councilmember Jordan Ray COUNCIL ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Deputy Town Clerk Chaveli Herrera, Planning Manager Eva Cutro, Inspections Supervisor Lorrie DeOrio, Development Services Engineer Tom Condit, Development Services Director Kyle Mieras, Principal Planner Catherine Lorbeer, and Plans Examiner II Dana Stevens CALL TO ORDER Chair Peterson called the meeting to order at 7:02 a.m. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Approval of the minutes of the September 24, 2019 meeting. A MOTION was made by Vice Mayor Cook, seconded by Chair Peterson, to approve the minutes of the September 24, 2019 meeting with the change to the agenda item number. Motion carried 2-0 with Councilmember Ray absent for the vote. 2. Review of previous discussions. None. 3. Review and Discussion of Land Development Code Division 4, Article 4.4. Principal Planner Lorbeer discussed an email provided by a citizen and provided the document to the committee for review. 4.401 Purpose and Intent Principal Planner Lorbeer provided background information on the section, stated there were no markups and asked if there were any questions to which there were none. 4.402 Title and Authority Principal Planner Lorbeer provided an overview of this section and discussed administration and enforcement. 4.403 Exempt Signs Clarification was given on this section to state that signs protected by statute and political signs are included in this section. 4.404 Prohibited Signs No suggestions were added to this section however clarification was given that unless protected by State Statute or otherwise allowed in the article, all other signs would be prohibited. 4.405 Sign Plans and Sign Program 4.405 A. Heritage Sign Plans, B. Comprehensive Sign Plans and C. Master Sign Plans Background information was provided on the three sections and discussion on the importance. Suggestion was to add additional purpose statement and rewrite some of the confusing language. Chair Peterson asked if the purpose statement was included and added there needs to be a statement that includes the phrase “not limited to”. Discussion continued between the three sections and information needed to be reorganized and combined. Under the Evaluation Criteria (#3) to the Master Sign Plans Section, the recommendation from staff was to add new or innovative sign types and there was discussion about sign requirements. There was discussion on Gateway Sign Plans as it related to similar information in the Heritage Sign Plans. Kathy Tilque, a Gilbert resident, asked for clarification on the Master Plan and discussed concerns in the heritage signs, she asked for background information. Principal Planner Lorbeer provided background information. Planning Manager Cutro asked if there were any complaints about the fees, and Principal Planner Lorbeer stated there wasn’t. Vice Mayor Cook informed Gilbert resident Tilque had additional ideas or alternatives he would like to hear them, Gilbert resident Tilque stated she did not currently have any and there was further discussion. Doralise Machado-Liddell, a Gilbert resident, discussed concerns with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with the sidewalks and sign clutter. 4.406 Review of Sign Applications for Permanent Signs Principal Planner Lorbeer stated there was an opportunity to clarify the process. She discussed that staff was able to approve administratively through this process and language needed to be cleaned up in this section. 4.407 General Provisions for Signs Principal Planner Lorbeer provided clarification on commercial versus non-commercial provisions, guidance and interpretation. She discussed discretion of the process and asked if there were any questions, no questions were asked. 4.408 Temporary Signs Principal Planner Lorber provided background information on the old code and discussed the table provided, she stated that the staff’s recommendation was to add information from the footnote into table rather than having a footnote and said there was an increase in maximum number of signs and discussed the provision on the bottom under table B on page 16. She informed the committee that staff would double check the information on the flying banner section. There was discussion on sign walkers. There was discussion on section H. Temporary Residential Subdivision Signs and Principal Planner Lorbeer discussed provisions that assisted builders and the table used. She stated that information was in the code and collapsed into a table for accessibility purposes. Chair Peterson asked that a note be added to make language clear on the use during construction times. 4.409 Permanent Signs Principal Planner Lorbeer provided information on this section and discussed changes added to clarify language. There were no proposed changes in the lighting or changeable message. 4.409 Section B. Types of Permanent Signs Staff recommendations were changes due to redundancy and language and would be consolidated since context was the same. There would be clarification on the language from the General Plan to Zoning. The section went into detail about the building and staff would reorganize information into table or consolidate the language. There was additional clarification on Wall Sign Areas and Vice Mayor Cook asked if there had been requests for bigger signs on the top floor. Principal Planner Lorbeer provided information on the type of requests received by staff. Chair Peterson and Vice Mayor Cook stated they were both okay with the language. Vice Mayor Cook asked about the size of banner signs for special events and Principal Planner Lorbeer discussed temporary use appropriations and sports venues. She detailed signs being specific to the event plan rather than visible from the street, Vice Mayor Cook asked that this section be revisited. There was discussion on additional redundancy and a recommendation to create a new table to replace table 4.409 B.3. There was additional discussion on sign types to include the possibility of consolidating Projecting Signs and Projecting Roof Sign sections and discussion on the Heritage District section. There was additional discussion on suspended signs which were also referred to as blade signs and a recommendation from staff was to add specific language for clarification. There was discussion on Freestanding Directory Signs to add interactive displays. There was discussion on Section 4.409 #22 Awning Signs, and clarification would be added on a statement regarding sewn signs. Additional clarification would be added to the language regarding wall sign allowance. Discussion continued about assumption of awning being fabric, durable and weatherproof. Councilmember Ray entered the meeting at 7:38 a.m. Principal Planner Lorbeer stated that signs with audio are prohibited, but in master sign plan there was availability to have innovative signs. Vice Mayor Cook asked if there could be further exploration on interactive and innovative displays and signs. There was discussion on audio on signs and lights. 4.4010 Residential Zoning Districts through 4.4016 Public Facility/ Institutional Discussion on series of tables, no recommendations made, and no questions asked in this section. 4.4017 Sign Maintenance Principal Planner briefly discussed this section and asked if there any questions. Chair Peterson asked how this could be enforced. Discussion continued. 4.4018 Nonconforming signs Principal Planner Lorbeer discussed this section and provided clarification that these signs were approved through the old code but still in existence. She stated that signs could still be repaired and used if sign was not damaged by more than 50%. 4.4019 Sign Violations Principal Planner Lorbeer asked if this section should be moved into the enforcement section of the code and stated that she was unsure if there was a legal reason why this information was in this section, she would speak to Assistant Town Attorney Nancy Davidson about moving information to enforcement. Chair Peterson stated that she felt this information needed to be in its own section within Signs. Gilbert Resident Tilque spoke in agreement and Vice Mayor Cook stated he felt it should also remain where it was. Discussion concluded on section Article 4.4 Sign Regulations and Principal Planner Lorbeer asked if there was any further discussion on any items. Chair Peterson asked about a review of A-frames. Principal Planner Lorbeer discussed the survey process and comparison of results. Gilbert resident Machado-Liddell, asked if the survey would be available to anyone and Principal Planner Lorbeer responded that the survey was designed for businesses who used the specific sign type. Councilmember Ray stated they residents should be involved in the process in order to balance the want and desire for both. Gilbert resident Tique asked if the sign type itself was promoting business and recommended keeping some of the previous questions from the old survey into the new one for comparison. There was discussion on the 311 features for resident feedback and Development Services Director Kyle Mieras stated that multiple avenues should be looked at to reach all residents. The next meeting will be on October 29, 2019 at 7:00 a.m. in Municipal Center II, Room 100. ADJOURN Chair Peterson adjourned the meeting at 7:53 a.m. ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Chair Brigette Peterson Chaveli Herrera, CMC, Deputy Town Clerk