Planning commissioners from Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo want to crack down on portable signs.
In the first-ever joint Planning Commission meeting Thursday night, the 19 commissioners unanimously agreed that portable signs need to be smaller and should be drastically scaled back in residential neighborhoods.
The group also wants to shorten the time the signs can be displayed, from 30 days to no more than 14 days at a time, with some exceptions during road construction.
The decision, which came after more than three hours of discussion, didn't sit well with the 40 or so audience members, most of whom were from the sign industry or local businesses that rely on the signs to advertise.
Randy Gilbraith of Awesome Mobile Signs in Fargo said the suggested regulations on portable signs will be costly.
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Requiring portable signs to be no more than 40 square feet at a maximum of 7 feet high means Gilbraith will have to rebuild his entire sign fleet, at a cost of more than $50,000 for equipment and labor.
"I just don't know that it (requiring smaller signs) is going to beautify the city," Gilbraith said.
Current signs are 60 square feet and 8 feet tall, he said.
The new size requirements may have an even greater impact on Chris Bolton, whose company, Bolton Mobile Advertising, has 80 signs that will be affected compared to Gilbraith's 35.
"I built my fleet on the fact that signs can be 8 feet tall," Bolton said. "It took me eight years to get where I'm at."
The cities initially wanted to give the sign companies a year to shrink their signs, but ultimately were swayed to give them 18 months.
That rule looks like it will be even more relaxed in Fargo. After the joint meeting, Fargo planning commissioners reconvened and agreed to allow companies three years to make the changes.
The idea is that Fargo has the largest inventory of signs and a year may be too short a transition, said Planning Commissioner Steve Blazek.
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Another change is the length of time signs can be displayed and where they can be placed.
For example, sign restrictions for residential areas will limit apartments to advertising vacancies to three days per year.
Businesses will be cut to no more than 14 days at a time and no more than 56 days per year. Fargo and Moorhead planners said most businesses that use the portable signs use them fewer than 60 days a year.
In Moorhead, 2 percent of businesses use the signs more than 60 days a year, and in Fargo, 19 percent of businesses do the same.
Larry Weil, West Fargo Planning Director, said one reason portable signs are now being regulated is because of public concerns that the signs are not aesthetically pleasing.
The industry also hasn't been highly regulated in the past and enforcement has to addressed, Weil said.
Despite consensus from all three planning boards, the city boards from Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead have to sign off on the changes.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Mary Jo Almquist at (701) 241-5531
