(a) Any person aggrieved by any decision or order of the Building Department representative may appeal to the Sign Review Committee by serving written notice, and by paying the fee for appeals. The fee for appeals shall be as established from time to time by Council. A public hearing shall then be conducted at the next available meeting of the Committee. The Building Department representative shall take no further action on the matter pending the Committee’s decision, except in the case of an unsafe sign which presents an immediate and serious danger to the public, as provided elsewhere in this chapter.
(b) Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Committee may appeal to Council by serving written notice to the Building Department and by paying the appeal fee established by resolution of Council from time to time. The Building Department shall, in turn, immediately transmit the notice to Council which shall meet to hear the appeal within 30 days thereafter. The Building Department shall take no further action on the matter pending Council’s decision, except in the case of an unsafe sign which presents an immediate and serious danger to the public, as provided elsewhere in this chapter.
(c) Council shall hold public hearings on all appeals and shall permit all interested persons to offer oral or written testimony. After the close of the hearing, Council, by a majority vote, is hereby authorized to affirm, annul or modify the order or action of the Sign Review Committee.
(d) The following criteria shall be used to evaluate such requests:
(1) Variances may be granted for any one of the following conditions:
A. The applicant has demonstrated that a variance is needed due to a practical difficulty on the site, such as varied topography, horizontal or vertical road curvature, or the presence of structures or desired trees that limit visibility of a sign on the premises compared to similar sites with conforming signs in the same zoning district;
B. A variance is warranted due to the relatively large size of the site, frontage or building in comparison to other establishments in the same district; or
C. A variance would significantly improve the conformity of an existing sign.
(2) Provided one of the conditions above is met, all of the following criteria must be met to grant a variance:
A. The inability to conform to the provisions of this chapter is due to a practical difficulty that includes more than mere inconvenience or mere inability to attain a supposed higher financial return;
B. The variance granted is the minimum necessary to allow the applicant to enjoy the same rights as other establishments in the same zoning district, have a reasonable outlet for free speech and meet the intent of this chapter; and
C. The variance will not adversely affect the health, safety and welfare of the public.
(Ord. 1707-01, passed 7-12-2017; Ord. 1906-01, passed 7-24-2019)