Sign By-law Review Open House - Oakville - business... · asking permission to use EMBs to advertise their products and services. Questions: 1. If businesses could display full messages

Sign By-law ReviewOpen HouseWe are reviewing our sign by-law.

Our goal is to ensure signs displayed in Oakville:• address the needs of local businesses to

communicate with and advertise to patrons

• reflect the character of our streetscapes and community

• minimize impacts to public safety

• meet the expectations of our community

We want to hear from you! Please tell us what you think about potential changes to signage regulations and any comments you may have regarding signage.

• ensure the guiding principles of this review are met

• ensure that signage complements the community character

• create a more concise and user-friendly by-law

• respond to emerging trends and technologies in the sign industry with appropriate regulations

• ensure the by-law can be effectively enforced

• streamline the permit application process

• create a simplified procedure for dealing with minor variances to the by-law

What do we want to accomplish?

Town of Oakville | Sign By-law Review Open House

Protecting health and safetyThat the design, location, maintenance, and operation of signs should not pose a safety hazard for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians

Maintaining the community characterThat signs should be compatible with their surroundings, reflect the town’s unique character, overall planning and design objectives and contribute positively to a livable environment

Fostering economic developmentThat signs should contribute to the economic well-being of businesses and communities

Respecting Charter rights To balance the town’s objectives with the interests of the business community by ensuring that rights of commercial expression are minimally impaired for the purposes of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Principles guiding this review include:


Currently, businesses are only permitted to use electronic message boards (EMBs) on their signs to display time and temperature.

More and more businesses and other groups are asking permission to use EMBs to advertise their products and services.

Questions:1. If businesses could display full messages on

EMBs, should these signs only be permitted in certain areas of the town? If so, where?

2. Should there be other limitations on their use?

Electronic Message Boards


Incorporating video display screens into signage is not regulated under the current by-law.

Questions:1. If you have seen these signs used in other

places, did they have a positive or negative impact on their surroundings?

2. Would video display screens be appropriate for Oakville? If so, where? For which uses?

Video Display Screens


Signs that are placed inside a window and visible from the outside are not currently regulated under the by-law. These signs can be attached directly to the glass or hung/mounted from the inside.

Questions:1. Should inside window signs be permitted to

cover more than 50% of the window? If not, how much?

2. Should EMBs and video screen displays be permitted as window signs? Any restrictions?

Inside Window Signs


Construction barrier signs, also referred to as ‘hoarding signs’, are large-scale signs that surround a development site, identify the builder(s) and typically shows images of the final development.

Question:1. Should there be a limit on the amount of

signage that can cover the barrier/fencing? Is it 25%? 50%? 75%? 100%?

Construction Barrier Signs


Increasingly, businesses are using free-standing banner signs, in addition to other signs, in an attempt to draw more attention to their products and services.

Questions:1. Should these signs be regulated if other

temporary sign types are also being displayed?

2. Should there be a limit on the number of these signs per business? Per property with multiple businesses? How many?

Free-Standing Banner Signs


Currently, pole poster signs can only be displayed on properties with automobile-related uses, such as car dealerships and vehicle repair shops.

Questions:1. Should these signs be permitted for other

types of businesses in their parking lots? If yes, which ones?

2. Should there be a limit on the number of these signs on a property? If yes, how many?

Pole Poster Signs


Currently, a mobile sign cannot be displayed closer than 30 metres (100 feet) to any other sign on the same property.

Questions:1. Should the separation distance between a

mobile sign and any other sign be reduced? Why? Why not?

Mobile Signs


Documents

Sign By-law Review Open House - Oakville - business... · asking permission to use EMBs to advertise their products and services. Questions: 1. If businesses could display full messages