Existing Highway 412 signs: : Proposed change may allow them to be moved and used
Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/hl/News/25022/
Siloam Springs Planning Commission signed off on the stipulations for signs along U. S. Highway 412 after a small change business owners sought.
The city board will vote on the stipulations Tuesday.
The approved change would allow business owners to keep their existing signs even if the signs need to be moved. Other stipulations and incentives the planning commission approved June 26 remain unchanged.
Commissioners approved the changes last Tuesday after businesses owners spoke.
“ We need to do business with the guys that do business with us, ” said Gary Gray, chairman of the planning commission.
Bill Mathews, co-owner of McDonalds in Siloam Springs, said having business owners get variances to keep their relocated signs the same would create a lot of extra work for commissioners.
Siloam Springs Board of Adjustment, which handles variances, is made up of the planning commission.
The commission previously wanted business owners to get variances in order to keep their existing signs which were to be moved.
The McDonalds sign would cost $ 75, 000 to replace and about half this amount to move, Mathews said.
“ That’s been there since we opened in 1981, ” he said.
The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department would cover the cost if the 60-foot-tall sign needed to be moved because it will be in the highway department’s construction easement.
The highway department will likely try to keep the sign from being moved, Mathews said, but it might be in the utility easement that the city needs.
Depending on the location of city utilities, the city might need up to 15 feet for an easement.
The city will purchase easements in which to run its utilities, but the property would still belong to the owner from which the easement was purchased. This is unlike right-of-way purchases, in which the new land owner would be the purchaser of the right of way.
Right of way and easements are expected to be purchased in the next few months.
Billboards along the highway might be unaffected, but this likely won’t be determined until the right-of-way and easement purchases are made.
Two sets of billboards might fall within the 15-foot easement the city might need.
Ron Blue, president of the Wichita / Fort Smith Division of Clear Channel Outdoor, said he would work with the city if they needed to be moved.
“ We want to relocate, but we want to meet conforming codes, ” Blue said.
The sign ordinance, which was previously updated in 1994, allows only one sign per lot.
An exception to this might be allowed for billboards.
As long as the current billboard is moved, it shouldn’t be a problem, said David Williams, director of the community development department.
Signs that are updated would be required to meet code.
The city’s sign code requires:
• Signs to sit at least 15 feet from the highway
• Signs can’t be more than 40-feet tall or have more than 150 square feet of surface area
• If a sign sits at least 90 feet from the highway, it can have up to 300 square feet of surface area
• Signs must be at least 200 feet apart
Ben Rhoads, city long-range planner, said the signs he’s seen along Highway 412 look as if many are closer than 200 feet apart.
These signs would be required to conform to the spacing part of the code if they were to be moved.
Entrance and exit signs are not stipulated in the code.
Williams said this project will be a good opportunity for business owners to update their signs and make the highway look nice.
Commissioners previously approved certain stipulations for signs along the highway:
• Allow, or grandfather in, signs that violate the 15-foot setback
• Grandfathered in signs can remain as long as they won’t sit in the utility easement the city needs for its water and sewer lines
• The city will pay to relocate signs in the utility easements on a case-by-case basis
• One-time assistance and incentives for business owners who will have to replace their signs because of the widening project
• The owners to eliminate grass areas if they cannot be replaced without affecting parking or structures
The city board will also decide on these stipulations Tuesday.
Highway 412 will be widened to six lanes with a 16-foot-wide grass median, between the Oklahoma state line and Washington Street.
The $ 8 million project is expected to go to bid in November and work might start in early 2009.