Council approves sign ordinance continuance
It has been nearly 12 years since elected town officials passed an ordinance regarding a major revision of sign issues on Fort Myers Beach. It will be almost two more months before the matter is delved into again.
After much deliberation and public input, the Fort Myers Beach Town Council unanimously approved to continue its second public hearing regarding amending an existing sign ordinance from last week’s meeting to its April 18 meeting at 6:30 p.m.
The ordinance, which was passed by council members in 1999, has not been officially addressed since town officials allowed a grace period in April 2008.
Before the grace period, the ordinance gave businesses and condominium associations on Estero Island more than eight years to comply with replacing existing signage with new, smaller monument-style signs.
Town Manager Terry Stewart gave an overview of why enforcing the sign ordinance was not sustained. This ordinance preceded his time at the Beach helm.
“Somewhere along the line, as enforcement was being carried out, there was an issue that was raised by then-legal counsel regarding whether or not the ordinance met the requirements that would create constitutionality issues,” he said. “On that basis, there was a decision made not to pursue a rigid enforcement of the sign ordinance.”
On the direction of the current town council, the town’s Local Planning Agency and current legal town counsel have been working on amending sign ordinance criteria to retain its elements that did not directly affect constitutionality issues.
Town Community Development Director Walter Fluegel explained the updates and revisions made to the 35-page document that helped modernize compliance and resolve permitting issues.
“The cleanups that were done in here were kind of minor, common-sense approaches,” he said. “For instance, the height of signs under the current code was limited to five feet above crown of the road. In some instances where the adjacent grade of the property was lower than the crown of the road, that could have the net effect of a sign having one square foot of permissible sign area. So, one of the cleanups that you’ll see in here is it’s now five feet above crown of the road or finished grade of property whichever is greater.”
According to Town Attorney Marilyn Miller, a couple of other changes were made since the ordinance’s first hearing. The revisions included added language (compliance issue on page 17/ section 3 or election sign issues on Page 29/ section 3) as well as other changes to the language prior to the first hearing. Ordinance No. 11-01 can be seen in its entirety on the town website at ww.w.fortmyersbeachfl.gov if you click on the public hearing item after clicking on the Feb. 22 regular council meeting agenda.
Four of the five people speakers during public input expressed their dismay the ordinance was being brought up during tough economic times with pleas such as retain the grandfather clause; not legal unless supporting economic analysis; and unfair to small businesses.
“Eight years is legally defensible. We are at 12 years now with this amendment,” said Miller.
“Businesses in our town have been on notice 12 years. That far exceeds any local government’s responsibility to make sure the economic impact would be easily absorbed by the people who are going to be affected by it. I believe that you (town council) have done the things that you are legally required to do in order to meet those standards,” added Stewart.
Beach resident Lee Melsek, the fifth speaker, believes the sign ordinance is a “good fit” and what the community wanted when it was first adopted.
“Many of the businesses on this island decided it was a good thing to do, and they spent the money to change out their signs,” he said. “They did the right thing -to conform to the community standard. It’s time to adopt this simple amendment to this sign ordinance, and it’s time to enforce it.
The purpose of the sign ordinance is to limit an excess of signs, which detract from views of structures and open space on the island, and to regulate existing and proposed signs to protect public health, safety and general welfare.
According to town records, the sign ordinance will protect “the aesthetic quality of life and traffic safety on Fort Myers Beach for residents, businesses, pedestrians and persons in vehicles.”
Vice Mayor Bob Raymond expressed his opinion before two motions failed and a continuance was agreed upon
“After 12 years, it is not fair to the people who spent thousands to comply with the original ordinance,” he said.
Back in May 2007, then-CDD Jerry Murphy said, “As a professional planner I think it is a positive step for the town. It’s going to add a consistency to Estero Boulevard in terms of signage and we’re looking at improving the look of Estero Boulevard. Over time I think what we want to see are trees and decorative fixtures, lights and things like that, not signs. Signs need to be down lower so that the experience of transiting the boulevard, whether you’re walking or on a bicycle or in a car, it’s a better experience.”
Many workshops were held during the course of the summer of 2007 to ready business owners and condo associations, break down what many had publicly deemed a confusing ordinance and answer questions before the ordinance took affect in mid-September of that year.
“First of all there is no such thing as grandfathering,” said Mayor Larry Kiker. “Many of the concerns would be better addressed with their own unique issues. There should be a process for those situations.
“The whole idea is not to tailor around these specific situations. We need to continue a global approach for the community at large.