Business district board approves sign ordinance

Columbia’s Special Business District board voted Tuesday in favor of modifying its proposed downtown sign ordinance. The most notable change is a compromise

on second-story wall signs, which board members had been reluctant to allow.

Board members conceded to a few points on the proposal in hopes of satisfying opponents before presenting the ordinance to the City Council on Monday.

“I really don’t think it’s a good idea to put a sign above the second floor,” board member Skip Walther said. But “accommodating (opponents of the previous draft) makes a great deal of sense to me.”

Board members accepted two parts of a compromise proposed Monday at a public meeting.

The new ordinance proposal will not include percentage caps on lettering or graphics on awnings. Awning signs would essentially be treated like wall signs. The new draft will also allow 48-square-foot signs for first-floor tenants in multiuse buildings that have store frontages greater than or equal to 48 linear feet. The board also voted to add three more sign options for second-story tenants than were allowed in the previous draft. The new proposal gives second-floor businesses the additional option of choosing an 18-square-foot wall sign on the second story, a 24-square-foot wall sign on the first story or an 8-square-foot projecting sign on the first story.

“The sticking point is allowing signs on the second floor,” board member Mark Timberlake said. “This board needs to appear to be concerned about other businesses downtown. I don’t think we should be seen as being too restrictive. Obviously, there are a lot of business owners that think this is a big thing.”

Realtor Paul Land, who leads a group of businesses who want fewer limitations on signs, said that although he needed to confer with his lawyer and other business and property owners, he was in favor of the compromise.

“I want them to be in support of this,” Land said.