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TO: |
Mayor and Members of Council |
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FROM: |
Sheila
Birrell, Town Clerk; and John Wright, Director of Building Services |
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PREPARED BY: |
Sheila
Birrell, Town Clerk; and Elvio Valente, Supervisor of Zoning |
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DATE OF MEETING: |
2003-Feb-18 |
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SUBJECT: |
Amendments to Sign By-Law |
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
That a by-law be enacted to amend Sign By-Law
No. 2002-94 to:
q Clarify the rules for election signage in residential zones;
q Provide for development signs to be removed once all of the lots of the
subdivision have been sold;
q Permit A-frame signs on private property in heritage areas year round,
subject to individual approval by staff or Heritage Markham to ensure
appropriateness with the heritage area;
q Provide for two-six month permits each year for A-frame signs on private
property in heritage areas at $150.00 for each six-month period;
q Prohibit mobile signs on lots where there is a readograph on the ground
sign if the readograph is greater than two square metres;
q Establish processes and timeframes for approving applications for
banners; and
q Effect certain minor housekeeping revisions;
And that By-Law No. 2002-276, “A By-Law to Impose Fees or Charges for Services or Activities Provided or Done by the Town of Markham”, the Town of Markham’s by-law prescribing all fees and charges, be amended accordingly, to provide for the following licensing fees:
Banners $ 50.00 for each seven day period of display
Return
of banners $
100.00 per sign
Portable
signs in a special sign
District $ 150.00
for six months;
And that York Region be requested to divest
itself of all responsibility for sign permits and enforcement on Regional roads
and that responsibility be assumed by the Town;
And that staff develop a strategy for
enforcement of the sign by-law;
RECOMMENDATIONS: (cont’d.)
And that implementation of the poster sleeve
program be delayed indefinitely.
PURPOSE:
To report and recommend on amendments to the
Town of Markham Sign By-Law as a result of discussions at the Development
Services Committee level and a public consultation process.
BACKGROUND:
In May of 2002, Council passed the new sign
by-law. At that time, there were some
concerns raised and staff were requested to report further. (See Schedule “A”) On December 3, 2002, a report was presented to the Development
Services Committee recommending further amendments to the Sign By-Law. The
report was deferred and a Subcommittee was struck to work with staff to review
the A-frame signs in heritage districts; election signage; enforcement on
Regional roads; and staffing. A public
meeting was held on January 21, 2003.
(See Schedule “B”) The matter
was referred to the February 18th Development Services Committee.
OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:
The matters before the public meeting on January 21st were A-frame signs, election signage, enforcement on Regional roads, and staffing. Members of the Committee raised other issues. (See Schedule “C”) The public raised other issues/questions. (See Schedule “D”)
The following comments are offered by way of explanation for the
recommendations:
Council requested clarification of the proposed wording for election signage in residential areas. Staff is recommending
q Signs not be installed earlier than four weeks prior to election day
q Signs may be installed on a Town road allowance in areas, except
residential zones, one metre from the edge of a travelled road, sidewalk or
shoulder. They shall be prohibited in
the daylighting triangle as indicated in Schedule “F” to the by-law. The maximum size shall be 2.0 square metres
and the minimum size shall be 1.5 square metres.
q Lawn signs on residential property with a residential building must have
the owner/occupant’s consent and shall not exceed 0.75 square metres. Signs may be installed on private property
without a residential building with the consent of the owner/occupant and shall
not exceed 2.0 metres. Signs shall be
permitted on Town road allowance maintained by the adjacent property owner,
subject to their consent. The
requirement for consent does not apply to lands adjoining rear lot lines.
Election signs with a maximum size of 2.0
square metres shall only be installed in zones, other than residential, on
private property, with the consent of the owner/occupant. No permit is required for installation of
election signs, rather a deposit from which costs associated with confiscating
illegally placed signs is imposed.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION: (cont’d.)
Development signs are currently permitted until
all lots have been sold. A change is
proposed to this section that would require development signs to be
taken down once all lots of the subdivision have been sold.
A-Frame
Signs
The former Town of Markham Sign By-Law provided for two six-month permits each year at a cost of $100 for each six-month period. The new by-law provides for a total of 42 days per year – either six seven-day periods; two 21-day periods or three 14-day periods in one year. The cost
of the new permit is $150 for three weeks. Dissatisfaction with the new regulations
pertaining to A-frame signs has been raised on a number of occasions to date,
particularly from the B.I.A’s .
Due to the dense commercial areas involved and
the apparent need for advertising of off-Main Street locations, staff is
recommending:
q Permission to place A-frame signs in heritage districts year round
q Heritage Markham approval required
q A-frame signs to be located on private property
q A-frame signs must be removed at the close of each business day
q Fees to be in concert with the former by-law, i.e. two six-month permits
at $150 each.
Real Estate Signs are
only permitted on the lot that is being sold.
The by-law does not permit signs for resale homes on public property or
rights of way. Therefore, the current
sign by-law limits real estate signs only to the lot that is being sold and no
changes are required.
Readograph Signs
Staff agrees that there should be a prohibition of mobile signs on lots where there is a readograph on the ground sign. Tenants should be able to use the readograph and get the same exposure as a mobile sign. This prohibition will only apply if the readograph is greater than 2 square metres.
Previously banners were included in the
by-law’s section on Portable and Mobile Signs and were permitted the same
exposure as portable signs. The new
by-law simply states that one banner per occupancy for a 12 consecutive month
period is permitted. Staff is recommending
that the by-law be amended to provide for banner signs on private property
provided they do not exceed six square metres and that the sign only be hung on
the exterior of a building. Rather than
one banner per twelve consecutive months, staff is recommending two sign
permits for either a portable, mobile or banner sign for up to 21 days or three
sign permits for a portable, mobile or banner for a period of fourteen
days. Staff is also recommending a
banner prohibition in the Heritage Districts, as was the case in the previous
by-law.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION: (cont’d.)
The Committee established to review the sign
by-law amendments and staff both recommended the matter of staffing for
enforcement purposes be the subject of discussion during the 2003 budget
deliberations. Staff indicated that
through workflow re-organization, the equivalent of one full time equivalent
has been designated to sign by-law enforcement. In addition, on weekends, three part-time staff are deployed to
enforce the sign by-law. Staff is also
developing a strategy for handling sign enforcement, including a communications
component.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION: (cont’d.)
The new Sign By-Law provides for a poster
sleeve system. Such a system is
expensive to implement and to maintain.
Hundreds would be necessary to avoid a challenge in the courts. Also, from the information gathered, a
system does not eliminate the proliferation of advertising
signs.
Due to current workload and the new initiatives recently undertaken,
maintenance of a poster system could not be managed with existing staff. Schedule “E” is a compilation of
information from municipalities that currently
operate a poster sleeve program.
Peterborough has implemented a poster board system. A poster is a good vehicle to disseminate
community information. However, they
would not replace the thousands of illegal advertising signs that proliferate
the Town.
Staff is recommending that the
Region be requested to divest itself of all sign-related issues on Regional
roads. The Town assuming responsibility
for sign permitting and enforcement on Regional roads would have a staffing
impact and a strategy is being developed to address that, based on utilizing students
on weekend and evening shifts.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
The inclusion of fees for banners and the
revised fee for A-frame signs in heritage districts necessitates a revision to
the Town of Markham by-law prescribing all fees and charges.
In 2002, staff issued six permits for A-frame
signs in heritage districts. The
inclusion of banner fees is a housekeeping matter only. Little impact on the 2003 budget is
anticipated.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
Development Services Commission – Building
Standards staff is responsible for the administration of the by-law as it
relates to permanent signs on private property.
ATTACHMENTS:
Schedule “A” – Synopsis of concerns raised at
the time of adoption of the Sign By-Law
Schedule “B” –Minutes of the Public Information
Meeting held January 21, 2003-01-28
Schedule “C” –Poster Sleeve Information
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Sheila Birrell |
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Andy Taylor |
Town Clerk Commissioner of Corporate
Services
___________________________________ ______________________________
John Wright Jim
Baird
Director of Building Services Commissioner
of Development
Services
