City of Gonzales
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: January 16, 2024
FROM: Taven Kinison Brown, Community Development Director THROUGH: Carmen Gil, City Manager
SUBJECT: Addressing Safety Concerns of a Potential Sign Ordinance
RECOMMENDATION
Receive a follow-up presentation addressing safety concerns expressed by Council Members last year during the initial introduction to this potential revenue-generating opportunity; and provide direction on whether to continue exploring the idea of installing an electronic billboard on city property adjacent to Hwy 101.
BACKGROUND
In November of 2022, staff came before the City Council to explore the idea of installing 1-2 digitalscreen(s) (Electronic Reader Billboards) on city-owned parcels facing the 101 Freeway. The sign(s) would/could display advertisements for national, regional, and local businesses, civic messages, and emergency communications. Since this time, staff have located another suitable city-owned property in our industrial area west of Highway 101.
Several council members expressed interest in the revenue potential of such a sign, and also that Gonzales could show leadership and a pioneering spirit with such a sign. Other council members expressed safety and liability concerns and requested further study and follow-up before giving a green light to committing staff time to changing the sign code and to potentially allow for such structures. Staff understands that the City of Soledad is also proceeding to enable freeway-oriented billboards.
AGENDA
ITEM
18 REVIEW AND ANALYSIS
Staff have conducted research to address the Council’s initial questions and concerns regarding the digital billboard. These include:
• City liability for allowing such a “distraction.”
• Concern for residential light and nuisance.
• Can such signs withstand the wind?
• Concern on sign size such as an industry-proposed 650+ square foot sign vs a 400 square foot sign and a request for real visual simulations.
• What are other cities’ experiences?
• What does revenue look like? How have cities bargained? Question of city liability for allowing such “a distraction.” Following the November 2022 meeting with Council, Scott Smith of Legacy Signs emailed a trade article to staff that drew upon a study by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHA). The FHA calls such signs, Commercial Electronic Variable Message Signs (CEVMS). Staff has attached the 4-page Executive Summary of the 70-page report to this staff report (Attachment A). The following excerpt from the trade article bears the answer:
“The report included drivers in Richmond, VA and Reading, PA. The results showed that drivers did look at CEVMS a greater percentage of time than at standard billboards; however, the time spent looking at off-premises advertising was less than 5% when the signs were visible to participants across the two experiments. Long glances at off-premises advertising were not evident. The longest glance at a CEVMS was less than 1.3 seconds and glances greater than 1 second were rare events.
The percentage of time that drivers dedicated to the road ahead was not significantly affected by the presence of CEVMS or standard billboards.”
“Rather, the overall clutter and complexity of the visual scene appeared to be the principal driver of glance time away from the road ahead. This was the case regardless of the presence or absence of off-premises advertising. The results suggest that overall visual complexity of the highway environment needs to be taken into account when considering driver glance behavior.” To paraphrase the FHA study and trade article would be to say that while CEVMS draw attention, it is not so much as to distract drivers from the task of driving and keeping awareness of the road ahead in the context of many visual observations.
Indemnification and Insurance:
In the contract examples reviewed and included as attachments to this report, each contract includes general provisions for indemnification of the municipality, as well as commercial general liability insurance and premises insurance as well as including the city and the city’s elected officials, officers, employees, and agents as additional insureds.
Concern for residential light and nuisance.
Mr. Smith presented the technology built into these modern signs today, which included fully programmable (and dimmable) LEDs that are individually shielded from directing light in unwanted directions, such as side-to-side or up to the night sky. With a directed focus on the highway, light spills to residential areas can be curtailed and negated. Additional contingencies for dimming can be programmed on foggy nights to reduce night glow and glare during such weather conditions. Preliminary consideration of erecting such a sign on the freeway frontage just south of the Constellation Winery, on a city storm drain basin area, is away from existing residential areas entirely, although the city still hopes for residential development on the D’Arrigo frontage east of Highway 101.
Can such signs withstand the wind?
Yes. While such signs can be 60 - 70 feet in height and include over 650 square feet of perpendicular surface areas, any sign proposed will be required to be engineered to withstand local conditions and must meet current building and structural regulations.
Concern on sign size such as an industry-proposed 650+ square foot sign vs a 400 square foot sign and a request for real visual simulations.
The Community Development Director thought it prudent to ask for real visual simulations in the context of the City of Gonzales landscape to visually see a hypothetical sign placement and allow the city leadership to compare smaller billboard sizes with the larger industry-preferred size. The council may direct potential future applications for electronic billboards to include such visual simulations.
What are other cities’ experiences with such signs?
City staff has reached out through the League of California Cities to solicit other cities’ experience in the matter. To date, (January 8, 2024) staff have received two responses: one from the City of Folsom, and the other from the City of Bell Gardens.
City of Folsom, Desmond Parrington, AICP, Planning Manager o “We did agreements for the two digital billboards in the City of Folsom. Because these typically require a discretionary action by the City Council or Planning Commission to grant these and because they generate a lot of money for the owners, there is usually room to negotiate revenue sharing. In our case, we wanted to make sure that there was local advertising supporting the City of Folsom and the businesses here and then for any off-site advertising the City required some revenue sharing. Typically, a lot of jurisdictions require the removal of a few static billboards before they will grant approval for a digital billboard. We did this as well. You also want to be careful about allowing new digital billboards near existing residential development. The City of Sacramento has done quite a few digital billboards so you might want to see if you can review their agreements. I have attached the agreements that the City of Folsom did with the Auto Mall for their digital billboard as well as the one we did for the Palladio lifestyle center.”
o Desmond Parrington, [email protected] o:916-461-6233 c:916-216-2813 www.folsom.ca.us.
City of Bell Gardens, Gustavo Romo, Director of Community Development o The City of Bell Gardens sent two 48-page negotiated contracts for billboard leases through the League of Cities list-serve. These contracts detail the names of the negotiating parties, the effective date of the agreement, the premises (lease site), the permitted uses, the term of contract, minimum annual guarantee (MAG), percentage rent, rent, and a one-time payment of costs (to recover city staff time processing the applications.
o City of Bell Gardens, Gustavo Romo |Director of Community Development, (562) 806-7724, (562) 806-7720; [email protected] www.bellgardens.org.
A Bell Gardens City contract has been attached as a representative Agreement (Attachments B) What does revenue look like? How have cities bargained? There are numerous conventions that may be employed here. The sign company presentation in November 2022 offered, and staff has since observed that single time payments could be employed, annual, monthly, or quarterly rent for the use of land could be employed, or more lucrative for the municipality - would be revenue sharing.
Procedural Expectations And Next Steps
What would a formal request of the City of Gonzales include?
1. A formal application would include development review fees, written line-in, strike out language for changes to the city sign code (zoning code) to permit and allow a process for such a sign.
2. Once new sign code language has been drafted and vetted through our City Attorney’s Office:
a. A CEQA document (initial Study) would need to be prepared at the applicant’s expense, likely through an environmental consultant.
3. A companion piece to this would also be a physical sign review proposal that would be:
a. Crafted consistent with the newly written sign code amendments. b. Consistent with the environmental review considerations and conditions. c. Consistent with an ad hoc subcommittee review for architectural context and aesthetics.
4. A lease agreement and revenue sharing agreement with the City.
What would the process be for City?
1. Staff review and process the application materials, charging staff time against a Reimbursement Agreement and deposit.
2. Conduct a meeting or several with an ad hoc design review committee.
3. Circulation of an Initial Study CEQA document in hopes of a Negative Declaration.
4. Planning Commission review with public participation.
5. City Council review with public participation.
6. Execution of a lease agreement that addresses:
a. Full city indemnification
b. Use of land and pathways for access
c. Revenue sharing/payment
7. Construction Permits
8. Sign Operations
a. Fine tuning and adjusting sign operations.
Explain the Recommendation and How it Supports the Vision Gonzales will continue to be a safe, clean, family-friendly community, diverse in its heritage, and committed to working collaboratively to preserve and retain its small-town charm.
Explanation: The recommendation is to receive a staff report and presentation to better understand the potential risks and opportunities of such a sign. The council will be considering if such a new feature to the City of Gonzales may or may not be consistent with City Vision.
Explain how the Recommendation Directly Implements the Mission The City Council and Staff of the City of Gonzales will realize our Vision by providing the leadership, commitment, and resources necessary to provide excellent services that enhance the quality of life of our diverse community.
Explanation: The recommendation is to receive a staff report and presentation to better understand the potential risks and opportunities of such a sign. The council will be considering if such a new feature to the City of Gonzales may or may not be consistent with the City Mission statement.
City services will be delivered in a cost-effective, respectful, and friendly manner to ensure the safety and well-being of the residents and the promotion of business, recreational, housing and employment opportunities in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Explanation: The recommendation is to receive a presentation and to better understand the potential risks and opportunities of such a sign. The council will indicate to staff whether to continue exploring the idea of installing an electronic reader billboard on city property adjacent to Hwy 101.
Strong fiscal policies allow us to provide appropriate infrastructure for:
• Public Safety Yes No X N/A
• Housing Yes No X N/A
• Recreation Yes No X N/A
• Environment Yes No X N/A
• Education Yes No X N/A
Explanation: Please see the Vision above.
ALTERNATIVES
o Express that the City Council is not interested in changing the City of Gonzales sign ordinance to allow such signs on public property and discourage such efforts. o Express that the City Council is interested in changing the City of Gonzales Sign Ordinance to allow such signs, but that such changes should be more permissive and allow electronic billboard signs elsewhere in the City.
FISCAL IMPACT
Potentially a net positive income to the City through a negotiated lease that can include a percentage of annual revenue generated through the use of the advertising structure on City owned property or an upfront large sum.
CONCLUSION
Receive a staff follow-up presentation addressing safety concerns expressed by several Council Members last year. Advise staff on whether to continue exploring the idea of installing an electronic reader billboard on city property adjacent to Hwy 101.
Attachments:
1. Executive Summary of the Federal Highway Administration