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ISA Wins a Measured Victory in Maryland
On November 3, the Baltimore
County Council (Md.) passed legislation that would restrict "electronic
changeable copy signs" (EMCs, in industry terminology) to static messages
changing no more than once every 15 seconds. While that result is more
restrictive than existing regulations (unlimited changes, no flashing or
blinking), the original county proposals attempted to enact far more severe EMC
regulations. ISA organized a response from sign companies, business owners,
and the county's Chamber of Commerce to the planning board proposal calling
for a 60 minute interval. As the proposal passed to council, the number was
reduced to 30 minutes. Due to consistent ISA and business efforts resulting
in local television and radio coverage and articles in the Baltimore Sun, the
council amended the proposal down to 30 seconds, then to 15 seconds - both
over the objections of the council chairman.
For more information, contact kenneth.peskin@signs.org.
Baltimore County Bill 106-08 Changeable Copy Signs will have
significant impacts on business in Baltimore County.
Call or email your County Councilman today and tell him to vote
"NO" on Bill No 106-08
This bill will be discussed at the October 28, 2008 Work Session at 3 p.m.
Final Reading and Vote will occur at the Legislative Session on November 3, 2008
at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers
-On-premise signage is the lowest-cost form of business advertising. In
restricting the electronic copy change interval to no less than 30 minutes, the
county will be depriving business of the ability to utilize low-cost
advertising. This will force businesses to rely on higher-cost advertising
(radio, print, temporary signage) at a time when businesses are suffering from
tightened credit and lower consumer spending.
-National businesses and franchises are able to use television, print
advertising, and sponsorships as a cost-effective method of introducing new
products. Independent locally-owned businesses are far more dependent on signage
to communicate with potential customers. Restricting the use of electronic
displays will impact locally-owned small businesses more directly than national
and franchised competitors.
-The County Code and the Master Plan both note that reducing "sign
clutter" is a county objective. Bill 106-08 will make it impossible for
businesses to display multiple messages on the same sign to a single viewer.
This increases the likelihood that businesses will add additional signs in order
to communicate temporary information. In the end, this bill may actually
increase the sign clutter that the county has targeted.
-The bill would prohibit all scrolling or animated messages. Smaller
displays, which often display fewer than 20 characters of text, need either
scrolling or frequent message change in order to communicate a complete message.
That could leaves owners of existing small displays unable to use their signs.
-The Planning Board version of Bill 106-08 specifically extends the
regulations to all non-public signs owned by government entities, such as Towson
University, the Maryland State Fairgrounds, and public schools. The County
Council version has omitted this language. Not only will government-owned signs
be able to change their message without restriction, many of these exempt signs
frequently display commercial messages advertising products, services, and
events that compete with private business.
-Currently, interior signs or those mounted in a window frame are exempt
from sign area calculations. Under Bill 106-08, interior window signs that are
visible from the exterior would be regulated by the county. This extends the
county's regulatory powers and could be a precursor to additional signage
controls.
-The bill would exempt "time and temperature" signs, but such
signs could only display the date, time, and temperature. This would force
businesses to either devote up to 50 percent of their sign area to noncommercial
speech at all times or end the time and temperature display.
-A 1997 sign ordinance granted owners of legally nonconforming signs a
15-year period after enactment to recoup the investment in those signs before
mandating compliance with the new ordinance. Under this proposal, signs made
nonconforming (mainly enterprise window signs) are not given that same 15-year
amortization period. Instead, they must comply with the new ordinance by 2012.
Ken Peskin
Manager, State and Local Government Affairs
International Sign Association
1001 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 301
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 836-4012 Tel.
(202) 236-0903 Cell
(703) 836-8353 Fax
www.signs.org
kenneth.peskin@signs.org
