On Thursday, June 11th the Boca Chamber Government Affairs Committee held a Zoom meeting to discuss the proposed changes for Sign Code in Boca Raton presented by the Development Service Director, Brandon Schaad.
The Boca Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee acts as a liaison between government representatives and the business community.
The decision to write a new sign code was made after the Reed vs Town of Gilbert, Arizona case in 2015 in addition to the chain legal landscape, and dissatisfaction with the aspects of signage regulations from the Community Appearance Board (CAB).
The new sign code was adopted on May 27th, which allows greater flexibility for signage, streamlines the approval process, consolidates sign regulations into one document, and sets more precise standards for signage.
Changing the sign code has been a process that has taken years in the making to approve.
When the city’s sign ordinance was originally initiated, it gave the city a unique, uncluttered look that limited commercial intrusion into landscaping and streetscapes in the 1960s.
However, the Committee thought it was time for a modernization of signage and regulations to make it easier for businesses to get approval.
On February 27th, 2017, the CBA and the City council held a roundtable meeting with the goals to streamline the sign approval process, coordinate sign design, improve design flexibility, treatment of logos, the number of colors, and building architecture.
Some of the changes included allowing staff to approve most individual sign permits except when there is a higher-level review required.
The sign ordinance also repeals and replaces the previous sign code and changes the approval process for signage. In addition, there are changes being made to the way the signage is regulated in the city.
Under the new regime mandated by the CAB, multi-tenant properties are now required to have a Master Sign Plan for commercial property. They will also be in charge of handling approvals for sign variance instead of businesses going directly to the city council.
Submissions that meet baseline regulations will be completely approved by staff. The new master sign plan is required for any nonresidential development with multiple occupancies.
The CBA is relaxing enforcement on any banners and street signs that were used for closed restaurants and those put under lower occupancy thresholds until the reduced occupancies are in effect.
The municipal code has not been codified yet and will take a few months to be officially updated.