Opinion ID: 3035963
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Sign Code

Text: As stated in a memorandum of the City of Lake Oswego’s Department of Planning and Development, the Sign Code is the City’s response to a State of Oregon instruction to cities and counties to adopt comprehensive land use plans with the aim of “encourag[ing] design of public and private facilities and structures which enhance community beauty.” See Or. Rev. Stat. § 197.175(2)(a). In 1994 the City passed the current version of the Sign Code in order to cure earlier perceived constitutional defects. By regulating all signs in the City, the Sign Code seeks, among other things, to reduce visual clutter, preserve the City’s aesthetics and protect traffic and traveler safety. See LOC § 47.03.010 (“The City Council finds that to protect the health, safety, property and welfare of the public, to provide the neat, clean, orderly and attractive appearance of the community . . . .”). In developing and amending the be maintained or undergo a change of copy without complying with the requirements of this chapter, with the exception that any change for a new business or use or any changes in a wall sign which is painted on a structure will comply with this chapter at such time as change in copy or alteration occurs. 1104 G.K. LTD. TRAVEL v. CITY OF LAKE OSWEGO Sign Code, the City’s Planning Commission conducted public hearings, considered the success other cities had experienced with their own sign codes and reviewed an Urban Land Institute study on signage and communities. Notably, during Council deliberations concerning the Sign Code, businesses presented recommendations to the City, many of which were incorporated. The Council’s consultative process culminated in the current Code, which limits the number and type of signs permitted in the City. The Code lays out specifications for all signs and, importantly for plaintiffs, generally prohibits pole signs. The Code is not triggered for the many preexisting signs in most of the City’s zones until a new business or use requires a change in copy of the sign or the sign is altered.3 LOC § 47.04.100 (the “grandfather clause”). However, pole signs had to conform to the Sign Code by May 21, 2004; in other words, almost all pole signs in Lake Oswego were to have been removed by this date. See G.K. Ltd. Travel v. City of Lake Oswego, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6984 at  (D. Or. Mar. 29, 2004) (“G.K. Ltd. Travel I”). In addition to regulating the dimensions and characteristics of all signs in the City, the Code includes a permit and design review process that requires those seeking to erect a sign to allow City officials to review the sign for readability, clarity and compatibility. LOC §§ 47.10.400, 47.06.200(4), 47.06.200(5). If a permit is denied, the permit-seeker may appeal to the City Development Review Commission and ultimately to the City Council. The Code also contains exemptions from the City’s permitting process. If an exemption applies, the sign still must “comply with all provisions and regulations of [the Code],” but a permit is not required prior to installation. LOC §§ 47.06.205, 47.08.300. Specifically, the Code exempts “[p]ublic signs, 3 A “change of copy” is defined as “the change of logo and/or message upon the face or faces of a legal sign.” LOC § 47.03.015. “Alter” is defined as “[a]ny change to a sign excluding change of copy or maintenance — when there is no change of use, or occupancy or ownership.” Id. G.K. LTD. TRAVEL v. CITY OF LAKE OSWEGO 1105 signs for hospital or emergency services, legal notices, railroad signs and danger signs” from the permitting process. LOC § 47.06.205(4). The Code also exempts temporary signs from the permitting requirement so long as the temporary sign goes up within a specified time period triggered by the occurrence of an enumerated event, such as an election or the sale, lease or rental of property.4 See, e.g., LOC § 47.08.300(B)(1). Finally, the Code incorporates a variance procedure to ease the burden of the Code’s application in some cases. LOC § 47.12.500.