LA CROSSE, Wisconsin (WXOW) – The La Crosse City Council's Judiciary and Administration Committee took a step towards a new sign in ordinance in La Crosse Tuesday evening.
The J & A Committee recommended the ordinance for approval.
It will now go to the Committee of the Whole Tuesday night.
If passed, the proposed ordinance would limit the height of on-premise signs to 14 ft.
The ordinance would also limit the height of off-premise signs to 30 ft and prohibit all animation and interactivity on electronic signs and billboards.
All electronic signs would also need to be approved by the city council before being built, and would need to be built at ground level, in monuments, rather than on polls.
They would not be permitted within 350 feet from residential homes.
It would also prohibit electronic signs on "entry corridors" into the city – along Hwy 16, Hwy 53, Hwy 35, Hwy 33 and Hwy 14/61.
"I think this ordinance is a good balance," said City Council Member Paul Medinger, who is also a member of La Crosse's Sign Ordinance Review Committee. "It balances the concerns of the community as well as the business, and it takes into consideration the natural beauty of the area."
"The council put the Sign Ordinance Review Committee together to address the safety issues and impact of the technology on electronic signs," said Mary Niemeyer, a General Manager with Olympus Media. "It wasn't supposed to go so far as to affect the small business owners. A lot of the damage that would be done by this ordinance would be to business owners with on-premise signs."
If passed, all signs in the City of La Crosse would have to comply with the new ordinance within 15 years.
