Sussex County Studies Tighter Billboard Rules and Enforcement

Screen Shot 2016-03-20 at 3.49.16 PMThe Cape Gazette reports that Sussex County assistant county attorney is going to propose the following rules for billboards together with tighter enforcement of rules:

  • 1000 foot separation between billboards up from 300 feet currently.
  • 500 foot separation from dwellings, schools, churches and public lands.
  • 300 square feet sign maximum.
  • Increase permitted height from 25 feet to 30-35 feet.
  • Prohibit double-stacked and side-by-side billboards.
  • Prohibit billboard variances.
  • Require a Delaware State letter of no objection prior to filing a Sussex County appliction.
  • Require a special use exception for electronic billboards.

Insider’s take: No billboard variance and then you require a special variance to put up a digital sign. Hope this isn’t a catch 22 where you need a variance to put up a digital sign and variances aren’t allowed.  The assistant county attorney is also talking about prohibiting billboard companies from upgrading non-conforming wooden signs.  This will have the unintended consequence of creating eyesores and safety issues as aging, sagging, wooden signs cannot be repaired or upgraded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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