Chapter 27.02
PURPOSE
Sections:
27.02.010 Legislative statement.
27.02.020 Legislative findings.
27.02.030 Master planned communities.
27.02.010 Legislative statement.
Richland’s sign code provides standards specifying the type, number, size, location, and lighting of signs in the various zones of the city. The intent of the standards in this title is:
A. To encourage the design of signs that attract and invite rather than demand the public’s attention, and to curb the proliferation of signs;
B. To encourage the use of signs that enhance the visual environment of the city;
C. To promote the enhancement of business and residential properties and neighborhoods by fostering the erection of signs complementary to the buildings and uses to which they relate and which are harmonious with their surroundings;
D. To protect the public interest and safety;
E. To protect the right of a business to identify its premises and advertise its projects through the use of signs without undue hindrance or obstruction;
F. To encourage streetscapes that are more pleasant and interesting; and
G. To reduce the distractions, obstructions and hazards to pedestrians and automobile traffic caused by an excessive number, excessive size or height, inappropriate means of illumination or movement, indiscriminate placement, overconcentration, or unsafe construction of signs. [Ord. 3-89; Ord. 09-02; Ord. 40-10 § 1.06; Ord. 08-19 § 1].
27.02.020 Legislative findings.
In conjunction with the adoption of the purposes set forth above and the regulations of this title, the city council makes the following findings:
A. Unlike oral speech, signs may cause harm by taking up space, obstructing views, distracting motorists, displacing alternative uses of land, and endangering the safety of persons or property. The city has a substantial and compelling interest in all of the purposes set forth above and has a substantial and compelling interest in regulating signs in such a way that harms caused by signs might be reduced or mitigated.
B. Regulation of the size, height, number and spacing of signs throughout the city is necessary to protect the public safety, to ensure compatibility of signs with surrounding land uses, to enhance the business and economy of the city, to protect public investment in streets and highways, to maintain a tranquil environment in residential areas, to promote industry and commerce, to eliminate visual clutter and blight, to provide an aesthetically appealing environment, to provide ample, meaningful opportunities for persons who desire to display information by means of a sign to have their information seen and understood, and to provide for the orderly and reasonable display of advertising and other messages for the benefit of all persons in the city.
C. These regulations do not apply to every form and instance of visual speech that may be displayed anywhere within the jurisdictional limits of the city. Rather, they are intended to regulate those forms and instances that are most likely to meaningfully affect one or more of the purposes set forth above.
D. These regulations do not entirely eliminate harms that may be created by the installation and display of signs. Rather, they attempt to strike an appropriate balance that preserves ample channels of communication by means of visual display while reducing and mitigating the extent of the harms caused by signs.
E. Some signs have aspects that make identifying such signs by description impossible without referring to other functional characteristics. For instance, an off-premises sign is one that contains a message related to a facility, service, or business located on premises other than the site of the sign itself. Off-premises signs are commonly large freestanding structures that are designed to stand out and apart from their surroundings. If they are allowed to proliferate, they can cause confusion and implicate greater impacts on safety and aesthetics compared to signs located on the site of the referred-to facility, service or business. It is essential to public safety and the public welfare to regulate off-premises signs. Wherever a sign is described, in part, by referring to the function it serves, the provisions of this title that regulate such signs are designed to be content neutral with respect to the content of the speech appearing on said sign.
F. These regulations are neither intended nor designed to restrict or control signs for the purpose of promoting or stifling any message that might appear on them. [Ord. 08-19 § 1].
27.02.030 Master planned communities.
A development agreement entered by the city under the authority of RCW 36.70B.170 through 36.70B.210, governing development of a master planned community, may provide that the procedures, standards and other provisions of the agreement shall supersede or otherwise modify the provisions of this title. For purposes of this section, “master planned community” shall mean an integrated development over 1,000 acres in size, developed under unified control according to a master plan, that provides for a mix of residential, commercial, civic, and recreational uses. [Ord. 40-10 § 1.06; Ord. 08-19 § 1. Formerly 27.02.020].
27.02.040 Severability.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part of this title shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remaining portions hereof, but shall be confined to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered. [Ord. 08-19 § 1].