Cape Coral City Council directed staff to amend the city\u2019s sign ordinance to allow multifamily to be treated like model homes when it comes to displaying feather banners.<\/p>\n
Planning Manager Amy Yearsley said around 2011, 2012, a stakeholder group was put together to look at city sign regulations, as there was a \u201cwild west of signs out there.\u201d She said sign regulations are hard to do because the minute a sign ordinance is put together, the ordinance is outdated.<\/p>\n
A sign code was passed in 2013, and the following year it reviewed again for A-frame signs and \u201cfeather banners.\u201d Yearsley said the feather banners got narrowly tailored to model homes with a special exemption use.<\/p>\n
In 2019 the sign code was redone again to meet the requirements under the new Supreme Court ruling \u2013 which had to be done by time, place and manner.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s recommendation was against making any chances to feather banners because once the code is opened it could become a slippery slope.<\/p>\n
According to the ordinance currently, four feather banners and one banner are allowed on the model home site. A corner lot model home is allowed four feather banners with no more than two per side.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Rachel Kaduk said to her, a model home is like an apartment complex in the sense that people want to see the space and signage indicates availability. <\/p>\n
Councilmember Bill Steinke took a similar view. He said the reason a builder has the signs at a model home is to let drivers know they can go in and see the home. He said feather banners also should be allowed for multi-family operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t bother me to stay up \u2013 keep them up in a multi-family situation until everything is rented, then it would come down,\u201d Councilmember Jennifer Nelson-Lastra said. \u201cI don\u2019t have a problem with feather banners at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sentiment was similar for the remaining council members \u2013 they did not have a problem with feather banners at multifamily sites.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current regulations are now for model homes. The same should apply for multifamily if they have a unit available,\u201d Mayor John Gunter said.<\/p>\n
Consensus votes at council workshops are to provide staff with direction. Actions are not final until a vote is taken at a regular council meeting.<\/p>\n