Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.
Sharman Brooks, the Shelby County development services supervisor, explains details of the right-of-way sign amendment during the July 10 Shelby County Commission meeting.
The Shelby County Commission passed an amendment to the zoning regulations in July in response to the ongoing spread of off-premises signs (also called “stick litter”) along rights of way in Shelby County.
Sharman Brooks, the development services supervisor for the county, said these signs typically appear at intersections where people want to take advantage of the ability to get their message out.
“Those signs pop up at intersections where everybody's stopped at red lights, and this amendment would specifically address these off-premises signs and establish reasonable regulations and clarify permissible signage on residential properties,” Brooks said.
Brooks added that by clearly defining the rules, it would make it easier to enforce them and get the signs cleaned up through the enforcement process.
Signs that are prohibited are those within 10 feet of public rights of way; those within 100 feet of traffic-control lights if they contain red or green lights that might be confused with the traffic-control lights; and off-premises signs including off-site real estate signs.
Single family residences may not display more than two signs, with an aggregate sign area of no more than 10 square feet. No individual sign can exceed 6 square feet total nor exceed 4 feet in height, and letters, symbols, logos or designs cannot be in excess of 2 inches in vertical or horizontal dimensions.
In other news, Shelby County was recently notified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of eligibility as an Urban County in the Community Development Block Grant Program. The commission unanimously approved a resolution to sign agreements with municipalities in the county to participate in the program.
Eligible municipalities include Alabaster, Calera, Chelsea, Columbiana, Harpersvilie, Helena, Indian Springs Village, Montevallo, Pelham, Vincent, Westover, Wilsonville and Wilton.
“When we become our own urban county designation based on population, we will get right at a million dollars guaranteed to come in the county every year,” County Manager Chad Scroggins said.
Scroggins added that the program will affect mainly the smaller towns in rural portions of the county. The municipalities had to pass resolutions to join the program by Aug. 4.
The commission also approved changes to its subdivision regulations intended to state when master plans need to be required and amended.
