LIVERMORE – During a spirited discussion about the proliferation of signs adjacent to public streets, the council voted 3-2 to adopt an ordinance restricting them.
The conversation mainly related to campaign signs. Mayor Bob Woerner along with Councilmembers Trish Munro and Brittni Kiick voted in favor of the new legal provisions, despite their belief that it should be tweaked in several months by a new city council. Woerner, Munro and Vice Mayor Gina Bonanno are leaving the council at the end of the year.
According to the new ordinance suggested by Woerner as an alternative to a city staff proposal, temporary signs will not be allowed in the public right-of-way in commercial, industrial and residential zoning districts.
The law will not be enforced until July 1, 2023 to allow staff to research and develop additional amendments suggested by the new city council, which will have three new members in a few weeks.
City staff had recommended that signs posted in the right-of-way be restricted to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and for 60 days before an event, such as an election. Whoever posted the signs had to remove them at 5 p.m. or the city would do so.
Woerner preferred the plan he raised as an option to ban them altogether.
”We just get rid of them,” Woerner said. “It’s a simpler alternative for us to consider.”
Woerner said banning signs outright without considering their content also would adhere more easily to First Amendment considerations.
Woerner, Kiick and Munro argued that getting something done was important, following years of not addressing the problem.
“Let the future council tweak it, if necessary, but get going on something because they’re trying to get perfect,” Woerner said. “You never get there.”
Kiick said it was time to do something, instead of putting it off.
“A new council person comes in and asks for it, like three times, as I have in the past two years; then nothing happens,” Kiick said. “Then, now, we’re back here again. So my goal was to get something moving.”
During public comment, David Stark of the Bay East Association of Realtors, said he understood that political signs are an irritant for residents and the council wanted to do something. He suggested they slow down and consider the “unintended consequences.”
He said either of the alternatives, Woerner’s or the staff’s, would negatively affect Realtors.
“We do ask the council to take a breath before adopting either of the alternatives,” Stark said. “We’re not clear about how either the proposals will change the rules as they apply to temporary real estate ‘open house’ signs. Next election is two years from now, so we have plenty of time to do this right.”
Bonanno and Councilmember Robert Carling also argued against both alternatives. She said the ordinance didn’t go through the normal city vetting process, allowing staff to investigate ordinances in other cities to see what works. Bonanno questioned why it was being jammed through.
“I’m really perplexed by why we’re doing it this way,” Bonanno said. “Why don’t we just take a breath and let our staff come back to the next council, who I fully trust can deal with this rationally, with our legal team, to do a solid job researching the legal consequences of any of these options to suit the rational way we’ve always done our business here.”
Carling said he thought the council had previously approved the staff’s option at its October meeting, when he voted against it.
Carling then echoed the sentiment of public speaker Jeff Kaskey when he said that campaign signs help spread the word of lesser-known residents running for office. Removing them daily would disadvantage those without money to continue posting them, he added.
“Look at the amount of money that’s been spent in these campaigns by a few wealthy people in this town to try and get their way,” Carling said. “What’s to say they won’t spend the same money again, having the signs put up daily, even if their signs are confiscated.”
Munro said she agreed with the arguments about getting something moving on the issue.
“In two years, it’s going to be 2024. There’s a lot of things that go on in this city,” Munro said. “So I think I understand that this is a way to get something in motion so that we can work on it going forward.”
