Politics & Government
Signs in Oak Park: Ugly May Show, Unsafe Will Go
Oak Park businesses will now have until 2018 to make changes to nonconforming signs. Until then, the village will grandfather in changes as businesses change ownership. Any businesses with safety hazards will be required to make changes.
Oak Park officials on Monday agreed to delay a deadline for businesses to comply with village code to avoid asking business owners to make potentially expensive and unnecessary changes to their signage.
The village's sign code, adopted in 2009, required all non-conforming signs in the village to be updated by March 2014 for either aesthetic or safety reasons. An amended ordinance would push that date back to March 2018, and allow signs to be grandfathered in as business ownership changes until then.
The village updated its sign code in 2009 to consolidate the two codes written for the village. One was for the Downtown Oak Park business district and the other was for the rest of the village, Village Planner Craig Failor said Monday. He said safety and aesthetics were the two main reasons the village made any changes to the code.
Trustees agreed that while safety is a no-brainer, aesthetics are more subjective.
Trustee Adam Salzman said it'd be inappropriate to insist on certain aesthetic standards, as aesthetics are a "moving target" that change over time.
Paul Zimmerman, president of the Business Association Council of Oak Park, was one of a few representatives from the village's business community to address the board about proposed changes to village code Monday night.
He said unless a sign is unsafe, the council believes it would be "punitive" to require a business to make changes for aesthetic reasons.
Oak Park resident Chris Donovan also addressed the board Monday, and said he and other residents share the concern that Oak Park is losing business to "needless regulations" from the village. The sign code deadline could be one of those things that could affect business owners deciding whether to stay in Oak Park, he said.
Of the 1,557 signs the village reviewed in 2012, 376, or 24 percent, were non-conforming with the code. The village notified 285 of the businesses in November 2012 to let them know of the upcoming deadline.
Village staff provided a breakdown of where businesses have non-conforming signs:
The sign code is one of several parts of the village code under review as the board and staff plan updates for 2014. The board will go over several proposed changes individually over the next few months.
The village's sign code, adopted in 2009, required all non-conforming signs in the village to be updated by March 2014 for either aesthetic or safety reasons. An amended ordinance would push that date back to March 2018, and allow signs to be grandfathered in as business ownership changes until then.
The village updated its sign code in 2009 to consolidate the two codes written for the village. One was for the Downtown Oak Park business district and the other was for the rest of the village, Village Planner Craig Failor said Monday. He said safety and aesthetics were the two main reasons the village made any changes to the code.
Trustees agreed that while safety is a no-brainer, aesthetics are more subjective.
Trustee Adam Salzman said it'd be inappropriate to insist on certain aesthetic standards, as aesthetics are a "moving target" that change over time.
Paul Zimmerman, president of the Business Association Council of Oak Park, was one of a few representatives from the village's business community to address the board about proposed changes to village code Monday night.
He said unless a sign is unsafe, the council believes it would be "punitive" to require a business to make changes for aesthetic reasons.
Oak Park resident Chris Donovan also addressed the board Monday, and said he and other residents share the concern that Oak Park is losing business to "needless regulations" from the village. The sign code deadline could be one of those things that could affect business owners deciding whether to stay in Oak Park, he said.
Of the 1,557 signs the village reviewed in 2012, 376, or 24 percent, were non-conforming with the code. The village notified 285 of the businesses in November 2012 to let them know of the upcoming deadline.
Village staff provided a breakdown of where businesses have non-conforming signs:
- Madison Street: 65
- North Avenue: 50
- Roosevelt Road: 35
- Lake Street: 33
- Chicago Avenue: 24
- Oak Park Avenue: 18
- Harlem corridor: 15
- North/South Boulevard: 10
- Marion Street: 10
- Harrison Street: 9
- Garfield Street: 6
- Austin Boulevard: 5
- Ridgeland Avenue: 3
- Maple Avenue: 2
The sign code is one of several parts of the village code under review as the board and staff plan updates for 2014. The board will go over several proposed changes individually over the next few months.
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