Sign Stop County Imposes Sign-Building Moratorium After Committee Becomes Mired In Conflict

Any motorist driving through the Valley is greeted by them.

Signs beckon people to swing by for a coffee. Grab a hamburger. Spend cash for a haircut. Buy a cellular phone.

The signs in unincorporated Spokane County have become so prolific that planners want to draft new rules.

But after a sign committee bickered over new ordinances for eight months, everything has been put on hold.

County planning commissioners decided to hold off making any new decisions until they draft the comprehensive plan.

Last week, county commissioners put a temporary ban on any new billboards to prevent a deadline rush when a sign ordinance is adopted next year.

“They knew the comprehensive plan was coming, why didn’t they just wait until next year to address this?” said John Johnston, sales manager at Tri State Sign Co, who sat on a committee to help draft new sign rules. “We spent an awful lot of time on it only to have it put on hold.”

The committee set up by the Spokane County Building and Planning Division tried hammering out new rules that could change the way future signs are built and displayed.

Members wrangled over size, height, freeway signs, wall signs and billboards.

But as the process wore on, many said they were so frustrated by the committee that they plan to go to county commissioners separately to express their views.

“I’m discouraged,” said Valley resident Janet Hannink, who sat on the planning committee. “The committee was stacked against us.”

Hannink, who serves as a citizen on the committee, said she wants to see more regulation on signs, but members from the sign industry wouldn’t budge. She’ll tell that to county commissioners, she said.

“There seemed to be more time given to signage people,” she said.

South Hill resident Carl Kirkham quit in disgust.

“I felt like the committee was run by the sign industry,” he said. There were three people from the sign industry and four citizens. Two citizens didn’t participate, he said.

“So it just left the two of us. We were treated rudely and laughed at.”

Kirkham said he plans on talking to commissioners.

“It was an improperly formed committee. It should be the citizens of Spokane county that decide what happens in the county. The sign industry can be experts to consult the committee,” he said.

Those in the sign industry are just as frustrated.

“I think it somewhat pitted industry against the citizens,” said Nathan Batson, president of American Electronic Sign in the Valley.

Batson said he does want to see regulation on signs, but current codes make it impossible for a business to try to build something more attractive without having to pay big bucks for it.

The Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce has also come out against the new sign codes.

“I don’t believe we should be writing a code that restricts businesses from promoting their business,” said president Loren Mitchell, who ran Coeur d’Alene sign company for seven years. “I want to have a sign code, but I want it to be a business-friendly sign code.”

Planning Commissioner Curt Messex, who co-chaired the committee, said he tried to run it fairly.

“Nobody was squelched. Everybody got their say. One of the problems was a couple of people on the committee had ideas that were pretty extreme,” he said.

But both sides say that’s wrong. Frustrated citizens and sign business owners both say they want regulation.

At issue is what that regulation should be.

Billboard companies say they’ll happily accept a rule that would require at least 300 feet between their billboards.

That’s what Lamar Outdoor Advertising requested from the county to prevent competitors from building a sign right in front of theirs.

And most say having an ordinance in place is vital before land around the Spokane Valley Mall is fully developed.

“It looks cluttered already,” Hannink said of the mall.

Messex agrees.

“The biggest part of the problem with Sprague is that there was no sign code when the majority of the signs went up,” he said.

Now that Indiana Avenue near the mall is being built up, planners want to give more incentives to businesses to build better-looking signs. They want to avoid the “popsicle stick” style that brands Sprague Avenue.

But even that hope may be dashed.

Before commissioners temporarily banned billboards for the next six months, two sign companies made a dash to apply for permits. At least four are located near the Spokane Valley Mall.

Gray Outdoor Advertising and Sunset Outdoor Advertising beat the ban and will be able to erect their signs under current sign codes.

Company owners say the county forced them into applying for permits. Their intentions were to erect a billboard every few months or so.

“Why the necessity for a moratorium at this point when nothing caused an urgent situation?” asked Casey Gray, owner of Gray Outdoor Advertising. Gray applied for three permits near the Spokane Valley Mall on Indiana and North Sullivan.

Gray said the sign code has been around for years. “Why all of a sudden is it so important?”

Because, argues Hannink, “If you go too far you can always drop back. If you don’t go far enough you can’t go back.”