Glendale : Another Delay on Sign Law

“Maybe we’re trying to over-fix this,” Councilwoman Eileen Givens said, as the City Council on Tuesday postponed for the third time action on proposed revisions to a 20-year-old law regulating business signs in Glendale.

Although council members agree on revised rules to update and liberalize sign regulations, they say they are stymied by the technical process by which signs ought to be approved. They are considering three options that will be refined and brought back for consideration Aug. 31.

All of the options would establish the same standards for signs throughout the city, but they would set different processes for approval, depending on whether the business is located within a redevelopment area.

Several council members said they are concerned about allowing two departments--redevelopment and planning--to have separate authority over signs. They said that even though the rules are the same, interpretations of applying the standards could differ between two departments.

They are wrestling with how to streamline the approval process through the planning department while still allowing the redevelopment department to retain authority over design of new construction, including signs, in the city’s two redevelopment zones.