Maitland billboard talks return

The signs are a-changin’ in Maitland, as city boards start drafting the first overhaul of the city’s sign code in decades this week.

The Planning and Zoning Commission will meet Thursday, Oct. 3 to work out ordinance language and hear from the public about what signs should and shouldn’t be allowed in the city. Drafting wording for a charter amendment to ban billboards is also on the docket, which once drafted will give citizens who publicly blasted the boards earlier this year a chance to get rid of them for good with a vote in the next election.

Community Development Director Dick Wells said after months of work between the city attorney and staff, the new sign code is ready for scrutiny from the city boards before it comes to Council later this year.

“It’s never easy to draft a sign ordinance,” Wells said. “…Legal issues become very important. You have to do it right.”

Wells said the biggest change to the code is updating language to make it content-neutral – allowing pursuance of freedom of speech, while still keeping a handle on how and where signs are used.