Public input needed on Rockford’s proposed sign law changes

ROCKFORD, Ill

— The city will hold an open house from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Rockford’s downtown public library to gather input from residents and businesspeople on proposed changes to the sign law.The changes, which will be considered by the Code and Regulation Committee in coming weeks, have the potential to alter the appearance of the community, said Todd Cagnoni, planning manager in the Community Development Department.If the proposed law is passed by the council, digital billboards will be allowed in the city for the first time. The billboards, which can feature motion pictures, shimmering effects and ever-changing messages, would be approved on a case-by-case basis, Cagnoni said.Cagnoni said it was important that the community be consulted on the matter because digital billboards are unlike anything Rockford has seen before.“They can often be seen from a half-mile away,” he said in a Friday interview. “In contrast to static billboards, they have the ability to change messages multiple times a minute and can potentially distract drivers. We want to ensure that the new ordinance is something acceptable to our community.”Another major change to the sign ordinance would be a drastically reduced maximum height. The law allows business signs with a maximum height of 30 feet. Under the new law, single-lot businesses could have signs no taller than 8 feet, and shopping centers would be limited to 20 feet.Existing signs would be allowed to stand. The limits would apply only to new signs, Cagnoni said.Cagnoni said there are about 170 billboard “faces,” or sides, in the city. Some billboards have two faces, one pointing in each direction.Lamar Advertising owns or leases 95 percent of the 170 faces, Cagnoni said. In exchange for permitting digital billboards, the company has agreed to remove 27 faces at 15 locations, he said.If permitted to do so, the company has plans to install eight digital billboards at six locations. Two would be double-sided.The ordinance changes are being proposed by Aldermen Joe Sosnowski, R-1, and Carl Wasco, D-4.Sosnowski said the proposed changes would make the community look better, especially in the future when new signs are erected or old signs are updated.“The two major goals of the changes are to reduce the number of billboards and the amount of sign clutter,” he said.He said the digital billboards would not show motion pictures or dazzling light displays.“It would look like a regular billboard except it’s lit up. The signs would only change every 10 to 15 seconds.”Cagnoni said after the open house, he would report the results to the Code Committee, most likely on Aug. 20.

Source: By Bob Schaper ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR