ANNA MARIA – If an amended city ordinance is adopted in October, city businesses will be allowed one A-frame sandwich board sign per business address.
City Attorney Becky Vose presented the previously requested ordinance to the Anna Maria City Commission for a first reading on Aug. 24.
She said the ordinance, if adopted, will amend section 98.6 of the city code of ordinances pertaining to prohibited signs and will add a new section, 98-21, on A-framed sandwich board signs.
Vose noted city code currently prohibits sandwich board signs, but past city commissions enacted moratoriums on the enforcement of the sandwich board sign prohibition during the COVID-19 pandemic and when the City Pier was closed and later replaced due to damage sustained during Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Mayor Dan Murphy said the city has not been enforcing the existing sandwich board prohibition, but it will enforce the newly-amended sign ordinance when it takes effect. Murphy said he doesn’t want sandwich board signs prohibited because it would negatively impact many Anna Maria businesses.
“This is a very straightforward ordinance which removes A-frame sandwich boards as prohibited signs,” Vose told the commission.
She read aloud the proposed new language that said, “Each separate legal commercial use in the city shall be allowed one A-frame sandwich board. Such board shall not exceed 24 inches in width by 36 inches in height, including the A-frame. Such board shall not be located in the right of way, shall not impede pedestrian traffic or vehicular site distances and/or triangle, shall be allowed during business hours only, and shall be removed during inclement weather.”
Commissioner Jon Crane said he met with a constituent who is concerned about this issue and was concerned that the proposed ordinance language didn’t say signs have to be removed at the end of each business day.
Commission Chair Mark Short suggested revising that language to say sandwich board signs must be removed during non-business hours and/or inclement weather. Vose said she would add Short’s proposed language before presenting the ordinance on second reading for final adoption.
Sandwich board signs will soon have to be removed during non-business hours. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Short asked if the proposed ordinance needed to first be reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Board. Vose said that would be up to the commission. Crane, a former Planning and Zoning Board member, said it should be. The planning board next meets on Wednesday, Sept. 27 and the city commission’s second reading and final adoption of the ordinance is expected in October.
Short questioned the ordinance’s reference to “separate legal commercial use” and how that would apply to a single property that contains multiple businesses. He asked if only one sandwich board sign would be allowed per property or if each business could have a sign.
Short also noted the Pineapple Marketplace on Pine Avenue features one building that provides retail space for approximately 30 vendors. Commissioner Robert Kingan said there are at least five sandwich board signs currently being used on that property.
City Planner Ashley Austin suggested replacing the language that refers to “separate legal commercial use” with language that allows one sandwich board sign per business address.
Short suggested the ordinance language specify that sandwich board signs are only allowed on commercially zoned and retail/office/residential (ROR) zoned properties and are not allowed on residentially zoned properties. Vose will add that language to the ordinance as well.
