Pocatello P&Z commission sends revised signage proposal to council after months of deliberation
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POCATELLO — The Pocatello Planning and Zoning Commission sent a version of the city’s revised signage ordinance proposal to the city council that dropped two controversial aspects.
The Planning and Development Department brought forward its third revised proposal at the commission’s July 17 meeting, which included two versions: one with a cap on new billboards and one without. The commission voted to recommend the version without a cap, and also amended it to require an illumination curfew on electronic signage only in residential areas.
The cap and curfew were two of the most controversial aspects of the proposal among the many advertisers and business owners who spoke against it.
Now that the commission has made its recommendation, both versions will go before the city council. The council will hold a public hearing, and then make its determination whether to accept the recommendation, make their own modifications or vote against the proposal outright.
This was the third time members of the public spoke on the proposal to revise city sign ordinance. The first time was on Nov. 15, where one person spoke in favor and 15 against, and the second was on April 10, where nine people spoke in favor and 15 against. The July 17 meeting saw three people speak in favor and seven against.
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The vast majority of people who have spoken against the proposed changes in these public hearings have been business owners, advertisers and developers and their views have ranged from objecting to specific aspects of the proposal to wanting it to be outright denied. Nearly all of the people who spoke against at the most recent meeting were sign contractors.
People who have spoken in favor of the proposal have expressed a desire to utilize the natural beauty of Pocatello’s landscape and that brightly-lit signs make driving at night more dangerous. The people against have expressed a desire to continue advertising through billboards, and have said that turning off or dimming illuminated signs will cause damage to the machinery.
Thomas Klein, who spoke at the first meeting, again expressed his support for both the cap on new billboards and an illumination curfew, which would go from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
“If anything, I would prefer to see a curfew from ten to seven instead of eleven to seven but that’s just me,” Klein said.
Frank Nuding, who has spoken at all of the meetings against the proposal, thanked the commissioners for their “dedication” but expressed a desire to see them make a final decision about what they would recommend.
“You have a huge crowd, then you have a big crowd and then you have a medium crowd and now we’ve done this so many times that you’re just wearing everybody out,” Nuding said.
Now that the commission has made its recommendation, the proposal is expected to go before the city council on September 5.