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Red Deer city council makes new rules for portable signs

Public hearing on March 5th
10551393_web1_170727-RDA-city-hall
(Advocate file photo)

Dynamic signs, along with electronic and portable signs, are being dealt with in a new City of Red Deer bylaw.

It attempts to balance the advertising needs of businesses with aesthetic complaints from the public about sign proliferation.

Earlier this week, council gave first reading to an amended bylaw that states signs must be 100 metres away from residential neighbourhoods. This was approved rather than the 30 metres that administration had proposed for dynamic and electronic signs, and the 20 metres for portable magnetic signs.

Related:

New billboard bylaw approved

Coun. Vesna Higham suggested the longer distances out of concern that advertisements might otherwise encroach too close to residences. She wanted to to see what the community reaction would be at a public hearing at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 5, in Red Deer city council chambers.

Planning manager Tara Lodewyk explained that administration had suggested the shorter 20- or 30-metre distances so that more businesses had a chance to put signs out on the street. “We were trying to be business friendly.”

Coun. Frank Wong expressed concern that wider distances between signs could impact businesses in close-together strip malls, while Coun. Ken Johnston felt the new parameters were “quite balanced.”

The new bylaw — which does not deal with billboard-style signs — can be viewed at www.reddeer.ca or at city hall.



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