PRESENTER: Presenter
Christopher J. Looney, AICP, Planning and Development Services Director
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SUBJECT: Title
Discuss and consider approval of a proposed development agreement between Lamar Advantage Holding Company and the City of New Braunfels related to the conversion of an existing static billboard (off-premises sign) to a digital billboard, currently addressed at 1200 IH 35 North.
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DEPARTMENT: Planning and Development Services
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COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: 5
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Case # CS24-0305
Applicant/Owner: Lamar Advertising Company
Curtis Bohuslav
7020 Hwy 290 E
Austin, TX 78723
Staff Contact: Matt Greene
(830) 221-4053 | mgreene@newbraunfels.gov
Lamar Advertising Company owns a two-sided, steel, monopole off-premises sign, a.k.a. billboard, on property presently addressed at 1200 IH 35 North, situated on the northeast corner of the intersection of IH 35 and SH 46, where P. Terry’s restaurant is also located.
The City adopted a Sign Ordinance in 2006 that prohibits the construction of any new billboards. The existing billboard is considered a non-conforming sign as it was constructed prior to the adoption of the ordinance in 2006. A nonconforming sign may not be enlarged in any way to include larger supporting structures, sign face area, or height. A change in the information on the sign face is allowed if the change does not increase the area of the sign face. However, any nonconforming sign shall be eliminated or made to conform to the adopted regulations when the cost of any alteration, modification or improvement is more than 60 percent of the cost of erecting a new sign of the same type at the same location.
ISSUE:
The applicant is requesting to enter into a development agreement with the City to allow the conversion of the existing static billboard to a digital billboard. The actual sign pole will remain and the existing sign panels would be replaced with new digital cabinets. The height, width and area of the digital billboard would not exceed the height, width or area of the existing static billboard sign.
The development agreement would require lighting of the sign cabinet to be in compliance with City and TxDOT rules and include the following required performance standards:
• Sign will utilize self-adjusting technology so the brightness adjusts with the intensity of the surrounding ambient light. The digital display will be equipped with both a dimmer control and photocell that automatically adjusts the display’s intensity according to natural ambient light conditions.
• Sign will automatically adjust the brightness so that the brightness level of the sign is no more than 0.3 of a foot-candle over ambient light conditions at a distance of 250 feet from the sign.
• The sign may not increase the light level on a lot in a residential district over ambient conditions without the digital display, measured in foot-candles at the point closest to the sign that is five feet inside the residential lot and five feet above the ground.
• Before the issuance of approval of the plans for the sign, Lamar Advertising Company shall provide written certification from the sign manufacturer that:
i. The light intensity has been factory programmed to comply with the maximum brightness and dimming standards as stated above;
ii. The light intensity is protected from end-use manipulation by password-protected software or other method satisfactory to the Building Official.
The advertising messages on the sign display will also be in compliance with City and TxDOT requirements and include the following required performance standards per the proposed development agreement:
• Any change of images or information on the electronic sign shall not be permitted to produce the illusion of scrolling, moving objects, expanding or contracting shapes, rotation or any similar effect of animation.
• A static display with no special effect changes will be required between messages.
• Images must remain static for at least 8 seconds (the City’s minimum standard is only 3 seconds).
• The transition from each static image may not last more than two seconds.
• Images and information shall not have a solid white background between the time period of 30 minutes after sunset and 30 minutes before sunrise (the City presently has similar rules for backgrounds on all signage types which helps prevent unnecessary excessive light at night).
• The digital billboard display shall use diagnostics to monitor for problems or malfunctions and shall automatically alert the NOC (Network Operation Center) of pending issues. In the event of a significant problem or malfunction of the sign display (i.e. over bright module, flashing, etc.), the display shall be remotely turned off by an NOC technician until a service technician can be dispatched to the site to resolve the issue.
In exchange for allowing the conversion of the existing non-conforming static billboard to a digital billboard, the applicant is proposing to remove 4 other existing off-premise billboard signs (8 sign faces and 16 light fixtures total) it owns within the City of New Braunfels (see descriptions of signs to be removed in the table below and in the Proposed Sign Removal attachment).
Per the proposed development agreement, these signs would be removed within ninety days following the date of the City’s (and TxDOT’s) issuance of all necessary permits and approvals for the project and the billboard removals must be completed prior to operation of the digital billboard.
In addition, the proposed development agreement would guarantee the City a free advertising space on the digital billboard every day, limited to one side of the sign (the ad space would switch sides on the sign every 6-months). The ad space would be available to the City to advertise City sponsored events, hiring campaigns, weather updates and other City-related opportunities.
Likewise, the applicant will promptly make available the digital display to City law enforcement and fire department for emergency messaging, to include Amber Alerts and other missing persons announcements, disaster evacuation information, and other urgent public safety topics. Such messages will be added to the advertising rotation promptly and will remain in the advertising rotation for 48 hours, unless more or less time is requested in relation to the nature of the emergency and the message. The applicant shall also use best efforts to tie the digital billboard into the Texas state system for posting emergency messages by the Division of emergency Management, Department of Transportation, Department of Public Safety, and others as they enter the program.
A similar request was approved by City Council in May of this year with an amendment to the Mayfair Development and Design Control Document (DDCD). With the amendment, Mayfair is authorized to remove 3 existing static billboards (7 sign faces total) located within their development and replace them with two new digital billboards; one on the east side of IH 35 and one on the west side, within the Mayfair property.
The proposed development agreement is consistent with the following goals and actions from Envision New Braunfels:
• Economic Competitiveness Goal 5: Cultivate a free enterprise approach to growing an economy where the public and private sectors collaborate.
• Action 8.10: Capitalize on geographic location.
STRATEGIC PLAN REFERENCE:
☐Economic Mobility ☐Enhanced Connectivity ☒Community Identity
☐Organizational Excellence ☐Community Well-Being ☐N/A
Community Identity, Objective 3: Develop and implement comprehensive brand identity that represents the entire organization, clearly articulates and celebrates the culture of New Braunfels, highlights the unique assets of the community, and supports economic development and tourism efforts as well as City operations, including recruitment and retention.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The City will have free advertising for self-promotion of New Braunfels for events, hiring campaigns, weather updates, and other City opportunities.
Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION:
Approval. The community will benefit from the development agreement as it will result in the reduction of signage clutter and night sky pollution with the removal of the 4 existing signs. The sign will also be utilized to display emergency notification messages to inform the public of important emergency news. It will also provide an opportunity for local advertisers to utilize the sign for their businesses as static billboard ad space is more expensive and usually is limited to 1 ad per sign face for an extended period of time. And, the City will have the opportunity for free advertising for events, hiring campaigns, weather updates, etc.
Resource Links:
Chapter 106 Signs, Sec. 106-7 Nonconforming Sign Standards and Sec. 106-11 Prohibited Signs of the City’s Code of Ordinances: <https://library.municode.com/tx/new_braunfels/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH106SI>