Merced
Sign Ordinance
Update
City Council Hearing
October 2, 2023
ATTACHMENT 6
A good Sign Ordinance is:
ම Objective
ම Easy to interpret
ම Concise
The current Sign Ordinance is confusing and
difficult to interpret.
We have attempted to write a new Ordinance that
meets legal requirements for the protection of free
speech and sets clear, understandable standards.
Our Goal for Merced’s Updated Sign Ordinance
What is a Sign
Ordinance, and Why
Do We Need One?
A Sign Ordinance establishes a
comprehensive and balanced system
of sign regulation that facilitates
communication and serves the public
by protecting safety and preserving
community aesthetics.
ම A sign’s location, size, and design
can significantly impact the
community.
ම Signs left unchecked can be
distracting and dangerous,
impeding their original intent, which
is effective communication with a
community.
Current
Sign
Ordinance
Regulations for different areas
ම North Merced, Downtown,
“General Regulations”
Examples of topics addressed
in the current Sign Ordinance:
ම Monument signs, political signs,
instructional signs, directory
signs, and for-sale signs
The Supreme Court Weighs In
REED V. TOWN OF GILBERT 9-0 decision
U.S. Supreme Court, June 18, 2015
135 S. Ct. 2218, 192 L.Ed.2d 236, 83 USLW 4444
• Sign Ordinances must not violate the provisions of
the First Amendment’s Free Speech clause.
• Governments cannot
regulate the content of
speech, including signs that contain speech, but
they can
regulate the time, place, and manner of
that speech.
• If you must read the sign in order to determine how
to regulate it, then the regulation is probably
content-based.
“…here are some rules that would not be content based:
• Rules regulating the size of signs.
• Rules regulating the locations in which signs may be
placed. These rules may distinguish between freestanding signs and those attached to buildings.
• Rules distinguishing between lighted and unlighted signs.
Supreme Court in 2015
So, What CAN Be Regulated?
Supreme Court in 2015
• Rules distinguishing between signs with fixed messages and signs with messages that change. • Rules that distinguish between the placement of signs on private and public property. • Rules distinguishing between the placement of signs on commercial and residential property. • Rules distinguishing between on-premises and off-premises signs. • Rules restricting the total number of signs allowed per mile of roadway. • Rules imposing time restrictions on signs advertising a one-time event.” - From Justice Alito’s concurrence
Proposed NEW Sign Ordinance
New way of structuring a Sign Ordinance without inadvertently writing content-based regulations.
ම Signs can be categorized into four main types:
ම Permanent building signs
ම Permanent freestanding signs
ම Temporary building signs
ම Temporary freestanding signs
Each type or subtype of sign can then be separately regulated by quantity, size, shape, type of illumination, and location (i.e., zone district or on-site/off-site) without having to read the sign or know the topic or intent of its message.
1 Permanent
Building Signs
2 Temporary
Building Signs
3 Permanent Freestanding Signs
4 Temporary Freestanding Signs
Tables with Sign
Standards Based
on Zoning and
Type of Sign
Descriptions on
How to Measure
and Calculate
the Size of Signs
Definitions to
Help With
Interpretation
Modified Standards
in Overlay Districts
Modified Standards
in Overlay Districts
Special Standards for:
• Shopping center signs
• Signs in windows
• Signs in the public right of way
• Master Sign Programs
• Temporary signs for residential
subdivisions
• Historic signs
• Manual and electronic changeable
copy signs
• Flags and search lights
• Wall murals
• Billboards
• Hazardous, abandoned, and illegal
signs
Existing Signs That
May Not Meet the
New Code
The signs already in place will be
“grandfathered” into the new sign
standards, i.e., considered legal non-
conforming.
However, any significant changes
made to signs already in place must
comply with the new Sign Ordinance.
If you already have a non-conforming
sign, you get to keep it.
Questions …