Cape P&Z sends 2 sections of development code back for more work, approves 3

A new development code designed to keep commercial lighting from spilling over into residential areas and limit the distractions for drivers from electronic signs got a mixed reaction Wednesday from the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission.

The development code is intended to put rules in place for new zoning districts approved in March by the Cape Girardeau City Council. During the meeting Wednesday, the commission held public hearings on five sections of the code, approving three and sending two back to a subcommittee for more work.

Approved sections of the code, which will now move to the council for consideration, include general provisions spelling out its purposes and possible penalties for violations, as well as the lighting section and one dealing with off-street parking requirements.

Additional sections to be considered later will deal with street requirements, landscaping and other issues.

For exterior lighting of commercial property, the new code would require shields or shutters to direct the light downward and limit the amount of light that escapes the commercial lot.

Those ideas sounded good to John and Deborah Clifton of Fairview Place, who said they and neighbors have been upset by intense lights installed at the Bi-State Oil Co. convenience store at 920 N. Kingshighway in 2007.

"In wintertime, when the leaves are down, our living room looks like the 50-yard-line at Houck Stadium," John Clifton said.

Commission member Charles Haubold said he sympathized. "We were only half as smart as we needed to be when we issued that permit," he said.

The new code would prevent that kind of annoyance, city planner Martha Brown said. "This ordinance is designed to make sure that light stays on the property," she said. "When the fixtures are replaced, they must put shields on."

The provisions dealing with business signs and billboards became bogged down in issues about brightness and the speed at which messages change. Commission members, after hearing from representatives of four companies, set aside those sections in order to see a demonstration that will help set the exact provisions to be proposed.

For example, Matt Chubboy of Watchfire Signs said the restriction that LED signs erected by businesses hold a message for four seconds would make it difficult for motorists to read the entire message being displayed on smaller signs.

LED signs need to have motion, such as words that move from one side to another, to have an effect, he said. "All my effort is to help businesses get noticed," he said. "I have never seen something work as well as LED signs."

Because of their size, smaller signs might have to change more frequently to provide a complete message, Chubboy said. "The owner of a smaller LED sign would be crippled by the four-second requirement," he said.

Commission chairman Bill Hinckley said the four-second rule is designed to help drivers focus on the road, not a flashy sign. "We consider that to be a problem with safe driving," he said.

Ellis Bradshaw, general manager of Canedy Sign & Graphics in Sikeston, Mo., said he believes texting or using cell phones while driving is more dangerous than a rapidly changing sign.

On billboards, the issue was how to measure brightness. One standard, called nits, is included in the ordinance while Jeff Bohnert of Drury Southwest said that lumens should be the measurement. Nits measure the intensity of a sign itself, while lumens measure the brightness of an area directly around a sign and can be influenced by other light sources.

Both issues will be discussed further during demonstrations at a subcommittee meeting, the commission decided.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent addresses:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO

Fairview Place, Cape Girardeau, MO

920 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, MO