Still no updated sign ordinance after a year and a half of work

Some signs around Helena could see changes because of a proposed ordinance that would revise sign regulations in the city.

While it is a project that the City of Helena has been working on for roughly 18 months, it seems everyone can agree that an updated code is long overdue.

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"Our existing code is from 1997. LEDs weren't a thing. Nobody was putting televisions on poles in the sky as their signage back then," said Michael Alvarez, City of Helena Planner II.

Helena City Commissioner Emily Dean said, "I think that there are quite a few people who would probably say this should have happened a decade ago. I was six years old when the last ordinance was adopted."

"We've come a long way. It's a lot better than it was. We just got a couple more things that if we can tweak – I certainly support the new sign code 100% if we can tweak those two areas," said Earl Charles, the president of Branded Sign Solutions.

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You may have seen Branded Sign Solutions signs around town at Melaque Mexican Restaurant and 4J's casino, Furniture Showroom, or Bank of the Rockies.

One of Charles's concerns is an amendment to the code that deals with electronic message centers (EMC), as you see below.

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Charles said, "Millenials are used to content changing. They're used to looking at their phone and seeing reels and things like that, and if you want to be a businessperson and you want to be in the community, you need to attract that customer. You've got to do something that's going to attract their eye."

The new code would prohibit animated images and cartoons from the EMCs and keep slide changes to every two seconds.

"One of the messages I have playing is the Flag Day message. I don't see anything offensive about that, and think about how boring that would be if we just had a stagnant slide," said Charles.

Alvarez said, "Zoning commissioners and members of the public say that they found them distracting. Perhaps [it] creates a danger when you're driving. You shouldn't be watching a little cartoon while you're driving."

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To protect the dark skies of Helena and limit light pollution, the updated code would also regulate that an on-premise EMC within 300 feet of any residential zoned area must turn off every day between 11:00 PM and 6:00 AM.

"I don't know that advertising after hours when you're closed in the middle of the night is an effective time to advertise," said Alvarez.

Charles said, "The banks, the credit union, the Dairy Queen, all of them, even though none of them can be seen from a residential district, but because they're within three hundred feet physically, they would have to go dark, and I just don't think that's in their best interest at all."

Previously, the city was going to sunset billboards, but now they want to cap the number around town.

To account for every billboard, the city will start permitting each location with an annual billboard business permit.

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Businesses would pay the permit fee to the general fund, which helps cover the cost of running the program.

However, some businesses and sign companies have concerns about the permits, as Helena would be the first in the state to implement this program.

"We would be a trailblazer in terms of an update in Montana, but it is something that is consistently seen across the country," said Dean.

Alvarez said, "There's not an obvious reason to me that we weren't permitting the locations. And the only thing I can think of is that our fee schedule is based on the number of employees at each location, which makes sense for 99.9% of businesses, but it does create a loophole for billboards."

The city commission plans to discuss the issue again on September 9th, and you can email public comments to citycommunitydevelopment@helenamt.gov.