First Person: Sign Ordinances and Small Business
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Before jumping into the logistics of what their new sign should look like and how large it should be, a business owner must first familiarize himself with their city's sign ordinance and then communicate his sign ideas to the owner of the building.
How sign ordinances impact sign design
One of my commercial tenants recently spent a few thousand dollars (and several months) designing a flat wall-mount illuminated sign for the outside of her shop. It's a pity she didn't discuss her sign idea with me until after her design had been rejected by the city. If she had, she would have learned that the sign ordinance for our historic district is very restrictive, permitting only projecting signs (known as "blade" signs) instead of the illuminated signs common to strip malls.
All cities have sign ordinances that controls the size and style of signs throughout the community. These ordinances are why street signs & real estate signs are uniform in size, why rooftop signs are only found along the freeway and why neon signs and blimp signs aren't usually allowed in the 'burbs. Because sign regulations will vary from block to block a business owner shouldn't never assume that any old sign will do. The only way to know for certain is to meet with a city planner to review the sign ordinance specific for the district.
Before ordering new directory signs for our commercial building, I've made it a practice to always meet with a city planner first to review changes to the sign regulations. Some of the issues we discuss in this meeting include:
-- The size of sign that will be permitted on the building
-- The style of the sign (such as projecting sign, monument signs, changeable letter signs, LED signs)
-- Where and how the sign is to be attached
-- Lighting options
-- Material used in making the sign
-- The number of signs permitted for the building
Knowing these details ahead of time automatically eliminates dozens of sign styles, which bring me closer to shaping a sign that the city will permit on my building. Now, instead of wasting money & time working up a concept for a neon sign or fancy LED board that won't be allowed, we can all focus on designing a sign that will meet with the city's approval.
More by this contributor:
Four free innovative marketing techniques
Estimating revenue and cost for a small business
Positioning a small company for growth in 2011
Before jumping into the logistics of what their new sign should look like and how large it should be, a business owner must first familiarize himself with their city's sign ordinance and then communicate his sign ideas to the owner of the building.
How sign ordinances impact sign design
One of my commercial tenants recently spent a few thousand dollars (and several months) designing a flat wall-mount illuminated sign for the outside of her shop. It's a pity she didn't discuss her sign idea with me until after her design had been rejected by the city. If she had, she would have learned that the sign ordinance for our historic district is very restrictive, permitting only projecting signs (known as "blade" signs) instead of the illuminated signs common to strip malls.
All cities have sign ordinances that controls the size and style of signs throughout the community. These ordinances are why street signs & real estate signs are uniform in size, why rooftop signs are only found along the freeway and why neon signs and blimp signs aren't usually allowed in the 'burbs. Because sign regulations will vary from block to block a business owner shouldn't never assume that any old sign will do. The only way to know for certain is to meet with a city planner to review the sign ordinance specific for the district.
Before ordering new directory signs for our commercial building, I've made it a practice to always meet with a city planner first to review changes to the sign regulations. Some of the issues we discuss in this meeting include:
-- The size of sign that will be permitted on the building
-- The style of the sign (such as projecting sign, monument signs, changeable letter signs, LED signs)
-- Where and how the sign is to be attached
-- Lighting options
-- Material used in making the sign
-- The number of signs permitted for the building
Knowing these details ahead of time automatically eliminates dozens of sign styles, which bring me closer to shaping a sign that the city will permit on my building. Now, instead of wasting money & time working up a concept for a neon sign or fancy LED board that won't be allowed, we can all focus on designing a sign that will meet with the city's approval.
More by this contributor:
Four free innovative marketing techniques
Estimating revenue and cost for a small business
Positioning a small company for growth in 2011
Published by C. Jeanne Heida - Featured Contributor in Business & Finance
Jeanne is a small business owner with 25 years experience in the real estate industry. A consistent Y!CN Top 100 writer, her articles can be found at Y!Finance, Shine, Your Wisdom, DEX, and the Scripps Net... View profile
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7 Comments
Post a CommentHopefully others will read this before erecting a sign....great advice.
good info!
Great article! Thanks for the info =0)
Good learning tips, research is magical when it come to small business and historic districts!
There's the sign ordinance, power ordinance, city right of way ordinance, water limitations and just about every law ordingance, limitation, light issue you can imagine in P'Cola. Sometimes busines owners have to sit for days going from one office to another before having all details of the laws required before establishing their business.
Great advice!
We had some friends who opened a shop in an historic district. They finally put signage on their van and parked it on the street in front of the store! I don't know the legality of that but they are still doing it! cheers ;)