The Town Council has voted to postpone its decision regarding changes to the Zoning Ordinance Sign Regulations until staff has completed its review of the entire sign ordinance.

Staff had requested and the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended changes to the temporary, portable sign rules, which were presented to the Town Council on Dec. 3.

Development Services Director John Wesley said staff had prepared modifications to the rules that apply to temporary signs that include garage sales, for sale and open house real estate signs. Wesley said the rules for each type of sign are different, which would leave the town venerable to a legal challenge following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Reed v. Town of Gilbert Case in 2015.

The court case specifies that rules must apply to signs uniformly and cannot be based on content. Wesley said that separate rules for each type of sign means the rules are being applied differently based on content.

He said staff is working on changes to the complete ordinance, but wanted to address this situation as quickly as possible and will bring back the changes to the entire ordinance later.

Current regulations prohibit the temporary signs along Shea Boulevard; however some council members believe some accommodation should be made to allow open house or real estate signs along Shea to draw visitors into the subdivisions off the corridor, such as Eagle Mountain, Crest View, FireRock Country Club and Palatial Estates.

“I believe we should work with the subdivisions along Shea to allow signs at entry points,” Councilman Art Tolis said.

Councilman Dennis Brown agreed, saying “I appreciate the need to get people into the neighborhoods off Shea.”

Wesley noted they could work on that, but whatever they allow for real estate has to be allowed for any activity or event, from garage sales to a birthday party.

The council also discussed the issue of placement of signs within the median dividers along frontage roads, particularly along Saguaro Blvd. where there are businesses behind the frontage access.

“I think we should tread lightly due to the court decision,” Councilman Mike Scharnow said. “This could open the flood gates to what might go along the Saguaro service road. There are a lot of businesses and if they all put something out we could get a lot of clutter.”

Scharnow also said that real estate activity has changed a lot with social media marketing and he is not sure that signs along Shea are needed.

“A lot more people know where they are going,” he said.

Mayor Ginny Dickey said she was prepared to go ahead with the proposal brought by staff, subject to possible changes when the entire ordinance is brought forward.

Tolis moved to table the item saying he wanted to see if accommodations can be worked out. The vote to table was 6-0 with Councilman Alan Magazine absent.

Wesley said he should have the ordinance changes ready around May.