It was 2015 when the US Supreme Court handed down its decision on sign regulations in the form of Reed v. Gilbert, but it was just this past year that the Town Council closed the book on its update of the sign regulations in the Zoning Ordinance for the Town of Fountain Hills.

The Council voted unanimously (7-0) in November to approve amendments recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission with some fine tuning.

While the Council approved amendments to the general sign regulations in May, there remained concerns related to the use of temporary signs in the community. Those include A-frame and T-frame signs, post and board signs and residential directional signs (real estate, garage sales). In May, the council voted to prohibit such signs within the street rights-of-way (ROW). However, many businesses and those in real estate objected, saying the ROW prohibition was too restrictive and would hurt their businesses.

Over the summer months Town staff went to work to address these concerns.

They reviewed commercial and industrial areas within the town to determine where the challenges were for businesses using A-frames, in particular to set signs on private property out of the ROW. Mapping was created to assist businesses in determining viable locations.

Staff conducted two meetings to get additional input from stakeholders. One session included business owners and the second was with real estate professionals.

A step to accommodate downtown businesses where there are zero-setback lot lines was to create an overlay district within the boundaries of Palisades Boulevard, Saguaro Boulevard, Avenue of the Fountains and La Montana Drive. This is defined as a Town Center Pedestrian (TCP) area where temporary signs are permitted within the ROW and may be allowed on the sidewalk with a six-foot clearance provided around the sign. This TCP exemption applies only where the business has no private property to place a sign and those using the exemption must obtain a no-cost permit from the Town with specified location for the sign.

The Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended up to six directional signs be permitted for use with open house events and garage sales. That would be five to provide direction and one on the property. The council modified this to a total of four, three directional signs plus one on the property.

The residential directional signs were also limited to ROW use on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and federal holidays from sunrise to sunset, with placement three feet behind the curb.

Both Chamber of Commerce and Scottsdale Association of Realtors were satisfied with the council efforts to listen to their concerns and effort to address those with modifications.

Vice Mayor Alan Magazine voted to support the modified sign regulations, but he expressed some disappointment.

“I think we were trying to dramatically reduce sign clutter with these regulations,” Magazine said. “I don’t think we have gone far enough. We have been at this a long time, and I think it is time to put this to bed.”