City staff directed to amend regulations for feather banners
Cape Coral City Council directed staff to amend the city’s sign ordinance to allow multifamily to be treated like model homes when it comes to displaying feather banners.
Planning Manager Amy Yearsley said around 2011, 2012, a stakeholder group was put together to look at city sign regulations, as there was a “wild west of signs out there.” She said sign regulations are hard to do because the minute a sign ordinance is put together, the ordinance is outdated.
A sign code was passed in 2013, and the following year it reviewed again for A-frame signs and “feather banners.” Yearsley said the feather banners got narrowly tailored to model homes with a special exemption use.
In 2019 the sign code was redone again to meet the requirements under the new Supreme Court ruling – which had to be done by time, place and manner.
The city’s recommendation was against making any chances to feather banners because once the code is opened it could become a slippery slope.
According to the ordinance currently, four feather banners and one banner are allowed on the model home site. A corner lot model home is allowed four feather banners with no more than two per side.
Councilmember Rachel Kaduk said to her, a model home is like an apartment complex in the sense that people want to see the space and signage indicates availability.
Councilmember Bill Steinke took a similar view. He said the reason a builder has the signs at a model home is to let drivers know they can go in and see the home. He said feather banners also should be allowed for multi-family operations.
“It doesn’t bother me to stay up – keep them up in a multi-family situation until everything is rented, then it would come down,” Councilmember Jennifer Nelson-Lastra said. “I don’t have a problem with feather banners at all.”
The sentiment was similar for the remaining council members – they did not have a problem with feather banners at multifamily sites.
“The current regulations are now for model homes. The same should apply for multifamily if they have a unit available,” Mayor John Gunter said.
Consensus votes at council workshops are to provide staff with direction. Actions are not final until a vote is taken at a regular council meeting.
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