Ketchum's Planning and Zoning Commission put the finishing touches Monday on rewritten rules for all signs in town, passing it on to the City Council, which could give the final stamp of approval at some point in the near future.
City staff said at the meeting that no proprietors, except for Bob Crosby of the Sawtooth Board of Realtors, had commented on the rewritten rules since the previous discussion Dec. 13. Despite the current lack of contention, signs were a hot topic last spring through fall. The city received repeated complaints about businesses' signs continually popping up in town, especially sandwich-board signs obstructing sidewalks.
The rules at the time allowed sandwich boards as long as they're directly in front of the correlating business and not blocking sidewalk travel. However, businesses increasingly placed their signs down the street from their locations or in the middle of sidewalks. Through dealing with this, the city said it learned that the problem often isn't people blatantly disregarding the rules but not understanding them.
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For that reason, the majority of changes to the rules aren't dramatic shifts in policy but clarifications as to allowed sign placement, when a sign permit is needed and more. For example, sandwich board signs must keep at least 5 feet of the sidewalk open for passing pedestrians, and temporary signs, such as banners, can only be displayed for two weeks at a time and four separate times a year.
The fine for violations has been increased from a maximum $300 to $1,000.
The new rules, however, don't address the issue of businesses needing way-finding signs down the street from their locations pointing in their direction. The city is working to design signs that would attach to existing light poles in key areas of Ketchum.
Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com
