A while back, an interesting thing happened at city council in Wausau. They took a vote, the person in the audience whose issue it was then asked to speak because they were very confused with what the vote meant, was the item approved or not approved. The item was the Peace Sculpture and the Mayor explained that the sculpture was approved, but the City had to put in place a system for reviewing sculptures, but once that system was made, this one was approved.
Instantly a number of people who voted for the sculpture hit their blue lights to speak. They had understood that this procedure for accepting sculptures had to be developed, and then this proposal would go through that procedure. A review of the minutes determined that to not be the case, and the Mayor’s interpretation of the motion, as amended, was correct.
While I was at the council meeting last night for a completely different issue, we had another one of those “What Did We Just Vote For” moments.
A while back, Trigs got a conditional use to put a sign on the back of the property that could be seen from the freeway. Signs are only allowed to be 30’ high, but with a conditional use, the sign could be over 30’ but not more than 50’ high. The height is actually measured from the curb on the FRONT of the property. In the case of Trigs, they wanted a 50’ sign to get it up high enough to get over the hill in the back of the property and still have freeway visibility. In reality though, the sign is actually only 38’ tall. But, the application was for a 50’ sign because the back of the property is 12’ higher than the front of the property, where the front curb is.
County Market was asking to put up a similar sign. All during the council meeting, they discussed that County Market wanted a 40’ tall sign to be at the same elevation as the Trig’s sign. City staff seemed to think that the geographical features that County Market was dealing with would actually allow for similar visibility with a 30’ tall sign, so that is what staff recommended, and that is what the Plan Commission recommended.
A representative of County Market was allowed to address the Council before the vote to explain why they wanted the sign 10’ higher.
The motion was made to approve the sign, second, and passed unanimously with no discussion. The person representing County Market wanted to know if they got their 30’ sign or their 40’ sign. The Mayor indicated they got the 30’ sign, because no one on the council offered an amendment, they went with the recommendation of Plan Commission.
Alderperson Rasmussen was then quick to point out that when looking at the council agenda, they did approve a sign that “exceeded 30’ in height”, so she inquired if, in fact, they can have the 40 sign.
Good question.
They then called a member of staff to explain the situation. Much like Trigs, County Market must actually measure the height of the sign from the front curb. Also, much like Trigs, the back of the lot is higher than the front of the lot, 10’ higher to be exact. So, on the drawing that they submitted, the 40’ tall sign was actually considered a 50’ sign when measured from the front curb. The Plan Commissions recommendation to the council was to allow for a 40’ tall total height sign (10’ in difference from front curb, 30’ in sign itself). What they approved was what the plan commission recommended, which was a specific sign per drawings and diagrams that is, in fact, in excess of 30’ – even though the sign itself was only 30’ tall.
I was debating if I wanted to go the Council meeting. I had a meeting in Sun Prairie that ran from 3:00 to 6:00 that I needed to leave at 4:30 to be back here in time for the meeting. My item was a conditional use for a business associate that passed the Plan Commission on a unanimous vote. Most things that pass like that see very little discussion and pass at council. I am happy I made it. A question was asked for a clarification on a parking issue, and I was asked to answer that simple question, which I did. However answering that questioned opened the door to other discussion I didn’t see coming – discussion that was brought up at the public hearing, but was not a concern of this particular neighbor at that time. After a minor amendment, we did get our conditional use but I think had I not been there, there might have been a different result.
Jim
2:08 pm on January 13th
Why would it be in the best interests of the City to restrict the visibility of signage for local businesses?
John H. Fischer
7:54 am on January 14th
the purpose of zoning is, in its simplist terms, to allow people do with their property what they want – however their use should not interfere with neighboring property owners use of their properties – zoning tries to ensure that.
zoning when it comes to signage is very near and dear to my heart, it was how I got involved in local politics back in 1997 with Schofield’s proposed sign ordiance.
I learned very quickly there is a balancing act… you want to allow businesses to be successful and signage is a big part of that, but having signage with no restrictions can lead to situations that are just asthetic nightmares, and can be counter productive. As property owners, we face the same balancing act.
We want our commercial tenants to be successful and allowing them signage helps with that, but when you have a building with good curb appeal, maybe even historic, and then a tenant’s proposal for a sign is on a 4×8 sheet of plywood and hand-made, it will actually detract from the overall structure.
I believe there is a need in the interest of the common good to have some regulation on signage.
Jim
9:58 am on January 14th
Yah, okay.
Are there different Zones with different sign restrictions? Or does one size fit all?
Do businesses within sight of the Interstate have the same sign restrictions as those on River Drive?
John H. Fischer
10:08 am on January 14th
I haven’t spent quality time with Wausau’s zoning code as it related to signs….
But normally yes, different zoning classifications have different signage limitations. The sign limitations on residential are different than commericial are different than industrial.
When I got involved with the Schofield Sign ordiance, they also had a different regulation that applied specifically to Grand Avenue frontage.
Assuming the zoning on River Drive is “B” while zoning with freeway frontage is more of an “I-B” nature, there are probably different standards. (But again, I have not taken the time to explore the sign zoning beyond what I have needed to know for my properties)
Jim Rosenberg
6:52 am on January 16th
I spent the better part of a two-year term of office a number of years back leading an effort to change the sign ordinance in the central business district. At the time, overhanging signs and sandwich boards were prohibited, as well as sidewalk seating. It was an amazingly passionate discussion and a much more difficult effort than I had anticipated at the outset.
marekinc
5:44 pm on February 4th
Having lived in the concrete and vinyl neon jungles of northern Virginia, I was struck a few years back by words from Mary Jane Hetting, then the director of the Marathon County Historical Society. She said this:
“The past is important because whether or not you study history or even like history, there is no way of getting around the fact that the past is responsible for everything we are today. The past is what shapes individuals as well as organizations, cities and even countries. It is our individual collective identity.
“When I was growing up I traveled a lot with my parents by car. Even as a child I knew which town we were passing through because of the unique buildings in each town. My parents would always point out special landmarks along the way.
“Today things have changed. Almost every town looks the same. Most towns have the same fast-food chains and retail stores that are built in similar style no matter what the location. Because of this, cities and towns across our country have lost their individualism. They are no longer unique, unless they have retained some of their historic buildings. Replicas don’t count.
“It is the uniqueness of the historic buildings that make each place individual. The history and heritage of a city gives it a sense of place. Preservation of historic buildings is changing the face of and actually saving many towns.”
One thing I draw from that is signage has to be controlled if our goal is to maintain Wausau as a unique and wonderful place. There are plenty of ways to make signage attractive, productive and not overbearing, and the same goes for new buildings.