Lakewood City Council Amends Business Signage Code

Lakewood businesses may post a banner, A-frame or any other removable sign outside their establishment, the Lakewood City Council decided Monday. The changes are effective mid-June.

Linda Smith, the president of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber's primary concern is for the smaller businesses.

"This is an effective tool for a lot of small businesses who are fledgling or can't afford a sign," Smith said. "We want to give them a hand up."

Under the previous sign code ordinance, businesses that wanted to display a sign had to apply and pay a minimum of $35. Lakewood Police Lt. Steve Mauer said that although many business owners were unaware of the sign code ordinance, the Community Safety Resource Team—a division of the Lakewood Police Department—only loosely enforced the rule, issuing only a handful of infractions.

Sign codes were looser before city incorporation in 1996. The City Council and the Planning Advisory Board adopted the tougher code in 2001. Lakewood Councilman Jason Whalen said there's no reason the new rules can’t be amended, especially if banners or other portable signs get out of hand.

City officals say they have not heard many complaints from residents about portable signs, but that one reason they made the change was to clarify language regarding stringy banners and sandwich boards that don't adhere to the code's height and size limit.

Dan Catron, the city's principal planner, said that aspect is going to be hard to implement.

"We'd have to initiate enforcement action after the fact," he said. "How that's going to work in practice is yet to be determined."