Opinion: Leave the Sign Ordinance Alone!

Citizens worked for years to get the Elk Grove City Council to adopt a strict sign ordinance.  One of the most compelling reasons was that we didn’t want our city to look like Florin Road. A pretty good reason, don’t you think?

It was a painstaking process, with residents and the Elk Grove Planning Commission, businesses and the Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce all weighing in, and then onto the Elk Grove City Council for final approval.  But finally an ordinance was passed that everyone could live with, and more importantly, one that businesses abided by. This ordinance didn’t come about without tremendous effort and compromise on all sides. Now that all may change!

At the March 21 Elk Grove City Council meeting, one company, at public comment, requested a major change in the current sign ordinance. Two weeks later it is already on the agenda. 

Here is the link to the agenda item and samples of what we might be looking at if the zoning code and sign ordinance are amended—many more signs 50 feet high and taller designed to be visible from the freeway. Is this what we want all around the city of Elk Grove?

At a previous council meeting not too long ago, a suggestion from the dais was to have blinking signs at the offramps. Other council members immediately dismissed the idea because it ran counter to the sign ordinance; not to mention the light pollution and being major distractions to drivers. The same is true again.

Advocates for the sign ordinance had a vision for Elk Grove. We have a strict sign ordinance for a reason. We want our city to be aesthetically pleasing.  There aren’t flapping banners, tottering trailer messages or high-rise messages boards competing for attention all over our city. (The only exception is the Elk Grove Auto Mall reader board and we were promised by the council that would be it.)

The current sign ordinance is fair to all businesses, large and small.  Every business plays by the same rules.  We reached an agreement in public taste.  How often does that occur?  One company wants to change it all. For what purpose?  And if we change the ordinance for one company, then we have to change the sign ordinance for any business who asks. And then what? 

Take a look at the samples. Elk Grove is more pleasing to the eye without those monstrosities of additional signs and our city needs to stay that way. Some of the most beautiful cities in the country have at least one thing in common: strict sign regulations.

The reason Laguna Blvd. and Elk Grove Blvd. will never look like Florin Road is because citizens worked tirelessly to ensure it doesn’t. We need to maintain that clean look and that includes our freeways. 

Some things are best left alone, and the sign ordinance is one of them.