David Hufstetler

THOMASVILLE — Thomasville City Council on Monday approved second — and final — reading of a new sign ordinance.

Council member David Hufstetler cast the sole dissenting vote on a motion by Council member Jay Flowers and a second by Council member Todd Mobley.

Prior to his no vote two weeks ago, Hufstetler said the revised ordinance is “workable,” but he has concerns about a few areas that should be fixed, rather than approving the ordinance and making changes later.

On Tuesday, Hufstetler said he thought some aspects of the ruling were “easily fixable.” Some other council members agreed, he added.

To make the changes might have slowed the process by a couple of weeks, Hufstetler said.

He questioned the ordinance appeals process and does not think the city manager — or any city staff — should be on the appeals board. 

“It should be an independent body,” Hufstetler said.

If the appeals board rules against a sign applicant, the matter would go to Superior Court for resolution.

The mayor pro tem said that before an appeals board ruling goes to court, it should be considered by the full city council and voted on by the city governing body.

The ordinance imposes a $150 fine for every day a sign is placed incorrectly on the city right-of-way.

Hufstetler said city personnel could remove the sign and keep it until the owner complies with the ordinance. The owner of the sign would pay a fee for its return, he said.

“The sign ordinance will get better as we continue to work on it,” he said.

Beginning in 2014, the city conducted a thorough review of all sign regulations and began the process of revising the current standards, a process that included numerous meetings, ranging from stakeholder sessions to well-attended public workshops and hearings.

A final version of the ordinance that incorporated resident and business owner feedback was presented to and unanimously adopted by the Planning and Zoning Commission in 2016.

In 2020, city council sent the ordinance — as approved by planning and zoning in 2016 — back to planning and zoning for further review and recommendation. Planning and zoning took public input on the ordinance and made additional revisions to the document based on resident feedback.

The proposed ordinance was discussed during a city council workshop in October 2020, when council mentioned multiple aspects where they wanted clarifications or modifications. Staff worked with council to identify and address the issues.

Subsequent changes in the proposed ordinance:

• Clarify the amount of a sign that can have electronic changeable copy

• Modify the message duration for electronic changeable copy to 10 seconds

• Include a highway/bypass area for consistent standards on U.S. 19, U.S. 319 and the U.S. 319 bypass.

• Clarify feather flag standards for multi-tenant lots

• Clarify the use of standard informational signs and yard signs

• Modify wall sign standards to eliminate the five-foot height requirement