The North Little Rock City Council has been going back and forth for months, trying to get an electronic changeable copy sign ordinance that every one can live with. We’ve written before about the split between commercial and residential interests at play. Some city council members wanted to ban the signs completely. Others wanted to limit their use to certain “sign overlay districts” within the city. That compromise has been welcomed by council members who didn’t want to see the signs banned outright. The draft legislation before the council tonight includes specific overlay districts, something lacking from previous proposals.
Murry Witcher, city councilman from ward four, says the draft will be read once and a public hearing will be held on May 24, at the regularly scheduled city council meeting. “If we do it the way we’ve propsed, with restrictions for each sign overlay district, then it will protect the residential areas, and that’s one thing we all agree on,” Witcher said. Opponents of the signs claim they are a nuisance to homeowners and drivers and are a source of light pollution.
UPDATE: The mayor threw a new wrinkle in this Monday night with his own version of a sign ordinance, a move not met with great enthusiasm on the council. But it was scheduled for a vote May 24.