Memorandum
City of Lawrence
City Manager’s Office
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TO: |
David L. Corliss, City Manager
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FROM: |
John Miller, Staff Attorney Jonathan Douglass, Assistant to the City Manager
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CC: |
Scott McCullough, Planning and Development Services Director Ernie Shaw, Interim Director of Parks and Recreation
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DATE: |
August 28, 2008
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RE: |
Music for the Masses Sign Request
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Chris Armstrong has submitted the attached request for a sign promoting Music for the Masses to be placed on City right-of-way adjacent to South Park. The sign would be 4’ X 20’ (see attached design), constructed of plywood, and would be placed in the right-of-way along Massachusetts Street adjacent to the northwest quadrant of the park (see attached map). The applicant initially requested permission to have the sign in place for four weeks, but has amended his request to have to the sign in place from Monday, September 8 through Saturday, September 13, the day of the event.
City staff members including Staff Attorney John Miller, Assistant to the City Manager Jonathan Douglass, Code Enforcement Manager Brian Jimenez and Building Safety Manager Barry Walthall have met with the applicant on numerous occasions to discuss and determine the exact nature of his request.
Options
The following options for processing this request have been identified by staff and/or Mr. Armstrong:
1. Sign of community interest in the right-of-way. Mr. Armstong favors consideration of his request as a “sign of community interest”. City Code section 5-1805 states that signs of community interest approved by the City Commission do not require a sign permit.
2. Sign on South Park property contemporaneous with event. Staff favors approval of a sign on the day of and contemporaneous with the event, posted on South Park property instead of the right-of-way. This follows the City’s practice for this park. Staff’s position was communicated to Mr. Armstrong in the attached letter.
3. Temporary sign on a nearby building. Mr. Armstrong has indicated that the owner of a building near South Park has granted him permission to post a sign on the outside of the building to promote Music for the Masses. While Mr. Armstrong has not submitted an actual application for a permit, it is not likely that such a permit would be granted because the sign would advertise an off-site event, which is prohibited by City Code section 5-1835.
Staff Recommendation
Based upon the City’s past practice for signs in South Park, Staff continues to recommend approval of a sign on park property (rather than right-of-way) displayed on the day of and contemporaneous with the event on September 13. The sign location, size, height, illumination, spacing and orientation should be required to comply with sign code regulations.
Staff recommends against allowing a non-City website address to be posted on a sign in a City park, as the content of the website may be unknown to the City and may violate City Code. For instance, at the time of the posting of this memo, the website (www.musicforthemasses.com) does not contain information regarding Mr. Armstrong’s event, and appears to promote a commercial enterprise.
Display of a sign in or adjacent to South Park for longer than the duration of the event being promoted could be detrimental to other’s use and enjoyment of the park. Staff believes this is a reasonable time, place and manner restriction, is consistent with the purpose of the sign code established in section 5-1801 and follows the City’s practices for signs in South Park.
ACTION: Receive request for a “sign of community interest” from Chris Armstrong to place a sign promoting the Music for the Masses event on City right-of-way along Massachusetts Street adjacent to South Park from September 8-13, 2008, review the presented options and direct staff as appropriate.