The Town Council has closed the book on the sign regulations in the Zoning Ordinance for the Town of Fountain Hills.

The Council voted unanimously (7-0) at its Nov. 9 session 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.

In response, town staff set a moratorium on enforcement on temporary sign use and went back to work on the rules.

Development Services Director John Wesley said that during this time staff explored actual differences between the previous ordinance and new ordinance to clarify what has changed.

They also 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 has been developed to assist businesses in determining viable locations.

Staff also 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. Mayor Ginny Dickey sought to add that this exemption applies only to the TCP where the business has no private property in which to place a sign and those using the exemption must obtain a no-cost permit from the Town with specified location for the sign. This change was included in the final version.

The Planning and Zoning Commission 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 and Sunday from sunrise to sunset, with placement three feet behind the curb. At the urging of Councilwoman Sharron Grzybowski, federal holidays were added to the time the signs are allowed in the ROW. There are no restrictions on signs placed on private property.

With regard to post and board signs, these are generally those applied to commercial building projects or leasing agencies, the signs will be permitted in the ROW in situations where the building extends to the street or the topography restricts visibility.

Both Chamber of Commerce CEO Betsy LaVoie and Susanne Brown, with Scottsdale Association of Realtors, thanked staff and the council for their efforts to listen to their concerns and attempts to address those with modifications.

Wesley said staff would address with a separate ordinance the possibility of establishing a blanket encroachment permit in the TCP for the use of overhead signs that project into the ROW from the building. This is viewed as a possible remedy where there is no private space for temporary signs.

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.”