Merchants seeking a sign may soon have an easier time in their quest as the municipality ponders changes to its signage regulations.
Coun. Jim Kyluik said the signage regulations will be separated from the zoning bylaw and examined on their own.
“We’re going to make sure it’s flexible, but we’re going to have input from the businesses,” he said. “We don’t want it to be an obstacle, we want it to be a tool for them.”
Signage issues have been discussed in the past, especially as there have been complaints about the lettering and other specifications for those businesses under the municpality’s Old English design guidelines.
More recently, the regulations governing the size and placement of signs outside of the downtown have also been called into question.
At the municipal council meeting on June 27, Carson Nielsen asked the municipality for a variance on his Cedar Avenue property.
The rules allowed for a sign covering half a square metre. Nielsen, whose property houses multiple businesses, asked for a variance to allow the businesses in the eight individual units to have their signs in place.
As well, he requested an identification sign for the south building.
A resolution was needed to increase the permitted sign area from half a square metre to 7.5 square metres for the multi-unit building.
Members of council said the existing regulations were cumbersome in this case.
“It’s quite a waste of time, actually,” Coun. Bruce Hallquist said of the sign bylaw.
Coun. Ken Roberge agreed.
“It’s wasting everybody’s time — the applicant’s first and foremost,” he said.
Coun. Sam Elia said the business sign regulations affect 750 businesses.
“Some sectors of the business community have been stymied by sign bylaws,” he said.