TOP STORY:Electronic signs unwelcome

BURBANK ? Bright, flashing electronic signs may be deemed permanently unwelcome on the streets of Burbank.

The City Council will consider passing a law Tuesday that would prohibit lighted electronic signs outside homes and businesses. Though the city already has signage regulations in place, the new ordinance is a response to the council’s concern that flexible language in the existing code makes enforcement difficult, City Manager Mike Flad said.

While the current code has specific limits for electronic signs, the city still lacks the ability to block these types of signs from being installed, said Tracy Steinkruger, an assistant planner in the Community Development Department.

“One of the problems that we’ve had is that you can prevent a sign from blinking and flashing, but you can’t necessarily prohibit the technology from being put into place,” she said.

The new ordinance would ban electronic signs outright, she said.

The proposed ban springs from the council’s worries that signage with flashing lights or constantly streaming text can be an eyesore, and poses a distraction to drivers on the roadway, Steinkruger said.

“Probably the foremost concern is driver distraction,” she said. “When you have a sign that’s blinking, flashing, changing text constantly ? definitely that can distract someone who’s driving.”

But employees at Napa Express Lube, one of two business in Burbank with outdoor signs that run messages on site, have not heard complaints about their sign being a nuisance or a safety hazard, said Sheri Saurer, the business manager for Napa.

“In fact, we’ve gotten compliments,” she said. “People love it.”

But flashing signs do not always fit in with Burbank’s appeal, Mayor Todd Campbell said.

“I think that electronic signs have a purpose in certain environments, I just don’t think that Burbank is that type of a community,” Campbell said. “We’re trying to promote a different quality of life ? electronic signs tend to have a potential of not only distracting drivers but they just don’t have that appeal that our city is shooting for.”

If adopted, the new ordinance would not apply to electronic signs already in place, but would be subject to the original code, which allow sign-owners to switch a sign’s message or display only once every 24 hours, Steinkruger said.

Lighted signs that Burbank schools use to broadcast school bulletins would also not be affected because they do not fall within the city’s jurisdiction, she added.