Albany City Commission delays vote on proposed sign ordinance changes

ALBANY — When it became apparent they’d stirred up more questions with their discussion than they had provided answers, the Albany city commissioners voted to table proposed changes to the city’s sign ordinance at its business meeting Tuesday night.

Planning Director Paul Forgey had brought recommendations to the commission based on discussions by a Sign Ordinance Task Force and the Albany/Dougherty County Planning Commission. The proposed changes ranged from new fees for signs, allowing billboards in additional zoning districts, granting permission for mobile signs, the legality of nonconforming signs that were in place before the current sign ordinance was passed, historic sign designation, and the frequency at which multimessage signs would be allowed to change messages.

The latter issue led to the vote to table the matter.

Ward IV City Commissioner Roger Marietta had pushed to allow for changes on multimessage signs from the current 60 seconds to every 10 seconds. The Sign Task Force had suggested 30-second intervals. When City Attorney Nathan Davis suggested the commission should choose between the 30-second and 10-second suggestions in its vote, Marietta protested, noting that the commission had agreed at its work session last week to the 10-second interval.

Forgey noted that the vote was preliminary and that any vote to change the ordinance would need to come after a public hearing.

Marietta pushed for the 10-second change because that is the duration required by Georgia law for multimessage signs along state highways. He also said that businesses in surrounding communities like Lee County would have an advantage because they allow changes every 10 seconds. But Ward V Commissioner Bob Langstaff used his smartphone to check Marietta’s claim, and Langstaff said Lee County’s changes are every 20 seconds.

Marietta also made a motion to allow so-called “human signs” as long as the individual promoting a local business did not go onto a city street. That issue arose over Liberty Tax Service owner Becky Elder’s complaint that her “wavers” were being asked to leave from city sidewalks. Forgey noted that sidealks are in the right-of-way and, thus, the human signs are not in compliance with current city law.

“Liberty Tax Service has four storefronts in Albany, and we’ve contributed $240,000 to Albany’s economy,” Elder said. “I did research by Googling ‘Albany’ and ‘poverty,’ and I don’t understand why I’m here defending jobs in a community that has the poverty rate that Albany does. Many of our wavers have not been able to find jobs elsewhere, but we’ve taken them off the unemployment rolls.”

Forgey has argued that the city’s sign ordinance allows for business wavers as long as they are on private property. He noted that city sidewalks, such as the one in front of the Liberty franchise at the corner of South Jackson Street and West Broad Avenue, are part of the right-of-way.

Ann Milton, representing Healthy Living Farms at 3810 Gillionville Road, also said she’d gotten mixed messages about the sign advertising her produce. City staff was unable to immediately determine whether the property is located in the unincorporated portion of the county or within the city limits.

“We just want the city to work with us so that we can let people know we have fresh produce available,” Milton said. “We keep getting mixed messages.”

At a briefing held before the commission voted to table the matter, Forgey told the board that with “limited resources,” Code Enforcement “can’t enforce everything” in the proposed sign ordinance. “We’ll prioritize to address the things that are most important to the people of the city,” Forgey said.

Ward I Commissioner Jon Howard responded, “If we can’t enforce this ordinance, why waste the ink to print it on paper?”

The commission also:

— Approved two new alcohol licenses and one license transfer;

— OK’d a budget amendment to the city capital improvement fund for $685,000 in rolling stock purchases;

— Signed off on a resolution that would not require city job applicants to give past criminal background information on initial job applications;

— Accepted Federal Aviation Administration grants totaling $231,300 for use at the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport;

— OK’d the use of $99,975 in SPLOST V funds for the removal of lead-based paint and repainting the East Broad Avenue Underpass.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Albany Police Chief John Proctor recognized Cynthia Dent as the department’s Civilian Employee of the Year, honored retired APD Officer Chuck Simpson as Citizen of the Year and named Patrolman Danny Alday Officer of the Year.