Staff previews draft site-plan review and sign ordinance updates; board invited to comment before council referral

Planning staff told the board on Sept. 23 that two draft ordinances — an update to the Site Plan Review ordinance and a revised sign ordinance — will be circulated to the board for comment before staff takes the drafts to Common Council. Key changes described by staff: the sign ordinance would streamline approval paths so that most sign design and size matters could be reviewed administratively by staff or by the planning board rather than routing through site plan committees that add delay; the site-plan review update would clarify language, remove redundancies, and raise the staff-review threshold so projects of up to 14 units could be eligible for administrative review when they meet technical standards (projects above that threshold would come to the board). Staff said the revisions are intended to reduce process burdens on smaller housing projects and improve efficiency while preserving board discretion for special cases. Staff asked board members to review annotated drafts that will be provided; board members asked staff to circulate the drafts promptly so comments can be filed before council submissions. Staff also said they will underline edits in the draft to make changes easy to follow and supply sample notification radii and thresholds used in site plan and sign review.