Board of Commissioners Seeks to Extend Signage Code Enforcement Moratorium

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners is considering adopting an extended moratorium on enforcement of a section of the city’s signage ordinance which prohibits automatic changeable copy signs from changing more than once every three hours.

According to documents posted on the county’s website, the Board of Commissioners has been contacted by residents who have been issued violations due to the frequency at which their automatic signs change their copy. Since receiving the complaints, the board has decided that it would like to amend the ordinance to allow the automatic signs to change their copy more than once every three hours.

On Aug. 21, the board approved a 30-day moratorium on enforcement of that section of the sign ordinance. Now that the moratorium is in place, efforts are underway to inform residents of a public hearing to discuss amending the ordinance to allow automatic signs to change more often.

The Board of Commissioners now seeks to extend the moratorium to 180 days, so that the board can discuss and take action to amend the sign ordinance to enact the desired changes.

Before the extended moratorium can go into effect, a public hearing must be held to discuss the extension. The county’s website announces that the hearing will be held at 5 p.m. on Sept. 18 to consider the extended moratorium. The hearing will take place at the Forsyth County Administration Building at 110 E. Main Street in Cumming.