CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH
Inter Office Communication
Community Development Department
TO: Eric Parra, Interim City Manager
FROM: Jennifer Villasenor, Community Development Director N DATE: January 30, 2024 (revised 4/30/24)
SUBJECT: SIGN CODE SURVEY
On November 15, 2022 the City Council (via H-item) directed the City Manager and City Attorney to review our Sign Code for compliance with recent Supreme Court rulings and provide an analysis of the City's noncommercial sign requirements contained in the Huntington Beach Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance (HBZSO). The City Attorney's Office is in the process of completing a review of the Supreme Court rulings and will provide its findings in a separate memo. In addition, planning staff surveyed 10 cities in Orange County regarding noncommercial, real estate, and garage sale signs and a summary of the survey results is below.
Survey Question Huntington Yes No
Beach
Noncommercial signs allowed in Yes, but not in 2 8
public right-of-way? medians/dividers (Irvine, CM)
Noncommercial signs display No sooner than 50 7 2
timeframe? days prior to (no provision
election but no regarding being on
provision regarding upcoming ballot)
being on the
upcoming ballot
Noncommercial signs allowed in Yes 10 0
commercial or industrial?
Real estate signs allowed in public Yes, but not in 10
right-of-way? medians/dividers;
cannot obstruct
right-of-way
Garage sale signs allowed in public No 0 10
right-of-way?
(Survey included Newport Beach, Irvine, Orange, Anaheim, Seal Beach, Westminster, Costa Mesa, Santa Ana, Laguna Beach, and Garden Grove.)
Based on the survey and review of other cities' codes, Huntington Beach noncommercial sign policies generally align with current practices of other surrounding Orange County cities. Regarding noncommercial signs in the public right-of-way, all surveyed cities either prohibit noncommercial signs within the public right-of-way or allow them with additional safety provisions. In addition to Huntington Beach, two other large cities allow 011224 RR Signs.docx
noncommercial signs within the right-of-way. These cities follow best practices to ensure noncommercial signs do not pose traffic or safety hazards. Since Huntington Beach already has these provisions in place, staff does not recommend revisions to the sign code based on current best practices. However, the question of whether to allow noncommercial signs in public rights-of-way as a matter of community policy is entirely up to the City Council.
Finally, although the City of Huntington Beach was the only city in the survey that permits real estate open house signs in the public right-of-way, the provisions of the HBZSO do not allow such signs to obstruct the sidewalk or right-of-way and are not permitted in medians, dividers, on street signs, or traffic control devices. Given that this code has been in place for many years, staff does not recommend amendments to the real estate sign provisions unless further directed by the City Council and outreach is done with the real estate community.
JV:RR:kdc
xC: Travis Hopkins, Assistant City Manager
Catherine Jun, Deputy City Manager
011224 RR Signs.docx