Wednesday, March 31, 1999
Trustees object to sign overload
New limits in the works
BY KEVIN ALDRIDGE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP — All it takes is one trip down the Fields Ertel Road corridor for Trustee Larry Backus to know the township has a problem.
“The situation with signage in that area is horrible,” he said.
Neon signs, billboards and banners scattered around the corridor's throng of businesses break the horizon at the exit off of Interstate 71.
The array of signs is a tribute to the rapid growth unfolding in Deerfield Township. However, it is also an indication to trustees that there is a need for more diligent enforcement of the township's zoning code.
“I am totally opposed to allowing 120-foot-tall signs the size of 14 Ping-Pong tables in the township,” Mr. Backus said Tuesday. “I don't agree with that in a community that is supposed to be progressive.”
“There is nothing that tears up the landscape of a community quicker than these signs,” added Trustee Bill Morand. “That's why we want to control the signs, so that we can maintain the landscape.”
Mr. Morand said the township's zoning inspector, Greg Porta, alerted trustees to several businesses that were not in compliance with the township's code on the number and size of signs.
“On any given weekend, you might see 50 real estate signs clustered together on a corner,” he said. “That creates a lot of clutter, and it doesn't look too nice.”
To eliminate the problem, trustees are considering a zoning code update that sim plifies and streamlines the existing code.
The goal, said Larry Weis, the township's zoning administrator: making signs user-friendly from a business standpoint while not becoming eyesores.
“Our goal is to have a code that is business-friendly, yet doesn't allow for signs to become obnoxious and overbearing,” he said.
The changes would affect political, real estate, directional, construction and temporary signs.
The temporary sign zon ing changes would allow signs twice a year for 30-day periods with the purchase of a $25 permit, Mr. Weis said. The permits would enable the township to track the number of signs and how long they are up.
Other adjustments to the code would include increasing the restriction on construction signs from 32 square feet to 64 and political signs from four square feet to 32. Commercial signs would be restricted to 32 square feet.
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