City planning commission discusses lighted signs
Uniontown planning commission members said they will ask city council for direction on addressing illuminated signs that were installed without building permits and don’t comply with the zoning ordinance.
Commission members said many of the electronic signs that flash advertising messages have been installed at businesses on Fayette Street, Morgantown Street, Main Street and Route 40 in the last few years.
“They’re appearing like mushrooms,” said Charmaine Sampson, commission secretary.
She said glare and excessive brightness from some of the signs distract drivers, make seeing traffic lights difficult and operate at night when the businesses are closed.
“It’s getting to the point that drivers are distracted,” said commission member Matthew Dowling.
The ordinance says illuminated signs within 200 feet of a home or residential district can’t be illuminated between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Signs that spin or have moving objects and signs that flash, blink, twinkle or have animated or moving displays are prohibited, according to the ordinance.
Enforcing the ordinance could be difficult because it doesn’t define illumination or flashing, said Jim Knapp, of K2 Engineering of Uniontown, the city engineering firm.
An illuminated sign could be defined as a sign that is illuminated by a spot light, Knapp said.
He said companies that sell the signs have submitted the building permit applications for most of the signs in town, but some of the signs have been installed without permits. The city charges fees for zoning permits and building permits for signs, he said.
Most of the signs that were installed with permits operate in accordance with the ordinance and don’t create distraction or glare problems, Knapp said.
“They just need to be controlled,” said commission member Dave Dzurnak.
Commission member Jim Fox said a sign company representative told him that electronic signs have sensors that dim the brightness of the display on days with overcast weather.
Some of the signs are off premises signs that advertise something other than the business where it is located, Knapp said.
The ordinance allows off premises signs in commercial and industrial districts only, but requires setbacks and requires a conditional use permit for those signs, he said.
He suggested that the commission talk to city council and the city solicitor about what to do about signs that were installed without permits and don’t comply with the ordinance.
“The issue is how to handle the ones that don’t comply,” Knapp said.
Dzurnak and Sampson said they would attend next week’s city council meeting to discuss the matter.