LFP Planning Commission Public Hearing on proposed sign code update Tuesday

The Lake Forest Park Planning Commission is holding a public hearing on potential changes to the City’s sign regulations on Tuesday June 14, 2022 at 7:00pm - in person and online.

Example of temporary sign from previous year

The Commission has been working with the City Attorney on a set of recommendations to the City Council that are necessary to bring the City’s signage regulations into compliance with federal case law regarding free speech.

Many sections of the City’s existing sign regulations regulate content (or speech), meaning that you have to read a sign to determine how it will be regulated. Those sections have been amended with draft language that addresses the physical characteristics instead of the content of the sign. 

For example, there is currently a definition in the sign code for ‘Celebration signs’ which defines such signs by the kinds of words that would appear in the sign (‘celebration of business anniversaries or announcing major sales’). That definition is slated to be replaced with a more generic term such as ‘portable sign’ or ‘temporary sign,’ depending on the context.

While those content-based amendments are primarily intended to change the way signs are regulated, the Commission’s current draft only includes one new provision that would significantly change the signage which businesses or residents are allowed to have. 

This change would allow interior businesses in the Town Center to have signs on the exterior of the building. The current regulations only allowed those businesses to be identified on the signs at the vehicular and pedestrian entrances to the shopping center.

The Commission hopes you will take some time to review the draft changes that can be accessed through this link to the Public Hearing Notice. 

Comments can be provided in writing or via Zoom during the meeting (instructions for both are also in the public hearing notice). Members of the public may also attend the meeting and comment in person at City Hall on Tuesday, June 14, at 7:00pm.