The new UDO, which is finally almost finished after 20 months of
reworking, limits most freestanding business signs to 10 feet in height
and 40 square feet in area. It’s an effort to reduce visual clutter
along the county’s roads.
That provision hasn’t gotten a lot of public attention during the UDO process.
“They are trying to make us look like Hilton Head Island,” said an aggravated Mark Baker, owner of Rapid Signs in Lancaster.
Baker feels the UDO is geared more toward aesthetics than the needs of
business owners. His customers tell him they fear they are losing their
creative expression and the ability to identify their businesses.
Baker fears he will lose customers and that some businesses might
decide to locate in places with fewer restrictions on their signs.
The biggest concerns to Baker are the height and square-footage
restrictions that make signs less visible. The new UDO will limit the
height of most signs to 10 feet. Some signs need to be taller than that
to be seen, Baker said.
“Tourists traveling through might not see a restaurant sign, and they
will keep right on driving,” Baker said. “The last thing a sign maker
wants to hear from his customer is ‘I can’t read the sign or see it from
the road.’”
The UDO will also prohibit the popular feather flags seen outside local businesses. The flags are long, narrow and colorful.
“They swear by them and say it gets business in the door,” Baker said.
Four such banners were flapping in the wind Friday afternoon at ArrowPointe Federal Credit Union at 100 Monroe Highway.
“Traffic is increased because of the high visibility of the flags that
seem to say ‘there is help here!’” said Felicia Pope, ArrowPointe Vice
President of Marketing and Business Development.
“I need those flags,” Pope said.
Baker recently installed a 15-foot-tall sign for South 200 Imports on
Great Falls Highway, a sign he would not be able to put up after the UDO
passes.
Most signs on Great Falls Highway and the Highway 9 Bypass would not be
allowed under the new UDO, according to Kenneth Cauthen, zoning
director.
Those two roads have rows of multicolored signs of varying heights vying for attention. Most are well over 10 feet high.
Existing signs will be grandfathered in. Any changes to current signs
would have to conform to the new UDO, said Elaine Boone, county
planner.
Baker appealed to county council Nov. 14 and said several council
members spoke to him since then. He feels he has their support, but
added “time is running out.”
County officials are quick to point out that the UDO is a living document and will be shaped as time goes by.
“Every single year, the document will be reviewed and revised as times
and technology change,” said Steve Willis, county administrator. “As
Lancaster becomes more urban, it will be reviewed.”
Cauthen said the first UDO advisory committee meeting to consider changes will be next June.
“Sign ordinances are very hard to write to please everybody, and I am
sure we will be changing it some at the first review meeting,” he said.
Cauthen said the restrictions are more likely to be opposed south of
the Panhandle because the county already has been limiting signs in
Indian Land.
In September 2014, county council passed the 521 corridor overlay
district, which places limits on signs. It runs along U.S. 521 from S.C.
75 north to the state line, and S.C. 160 from 521 west to the
Lancaster/York county line.
Nov 20, 2016
Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152
No comments:
Post a Comment