Fiscal Note
No significant fiscal impact is anticipated.
Title
Creating Section 31.072 of the Madison General Ordinances to regulate signs on mixed-use residential buildings and residential uses in non-residential zoning districts; amending various sections to lower the height limit for awnings, canopy and projecting signs; amending Sec. 31.07 to lower the height of signs on walls and to make other changes; and amending other sections of Chapter 31 accordingly.
Body
DRAFTER'S ANALYSIS: Under the old zoning code, most mixed-use residential buildings were zoned PUD and a custom sign package was approved by the UDC under Sec. 31.13(4). Now, most mixed-use residential buildings will be in conventional zoning districts, not subject to UDC review, and entitled to signage “as of right” that may be more expansive than otherwise allowed in a residential district or approved by the UDC. For example, if a mixed-use building is located in a Group 2 district, the existing code allows wall signs at the 2nd story or higher and extra signs for buildings over 5 stories or with multiple tenants. This amendment accomplishes two things: (1) closes the loophole described above, and (2) creates an across-the-board height restriction for signs displayed on a building in a Group 2 zoning district to no higher than the window sill of the 2nd story or eighteen feet (18’), whichever is lower.
This ordinance amendment will close the “loophole” for mixed-use residential buildings and purely residential buildings located in non-residential zoning districts. This ordinance will apply to mixed-use buildings defined in Sec. 28.211 that include a residential use, as well as stand-alone residential uses located in a Group 2 or 3 zoning district. (The sign code organizes zoning districts into 3 groups for purposes of regulating signs. Group 1 is residential and most strict. Group 2 is in the middle and Group 3 is for traditional commercial and manufacturing type uses.)
Under new sec. 31...
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