Amador County – The Amador County Land Use and Community Development Committee on Thursday will review a draft ordinance for temporary directional signage in unincorporated areas of the county.

The committee, made up of Supervisor Vice Chairman Louis Boitano and Supervisor Richard Forster, meets 10 a.m. Thursday, in Conference Room C of the county administration building, and could give Planning Department staff direction on how to proceed.

Diane Sherbourne, office manager of Amador County Chamber of Commerce distributed an e-mail notice of the meeting, and urged people to “please plan to attend this meeting to voice your concerns over our current banner/ sign/sandwich board regulations.”

Supervisors at their Oct. 11 meeting heard from one business owner about confusion over the sign ordinance, which may include that the county is itself in violation of the ordinance.

During “public matters not on the agenda,” Feed Barn owner Susan Manning said she “found out we were out of compliance with the sign ordinance,” and that the “county is out of compliance” with its own sign ordinance.

“Having one banner for 90 days is not enough,” Manning said. “I sell dog food, and I have banners that tell people when I have chicks in.” She has dog adoption and cat adoption signs, and would like to put them out a week before the date, “which would put us out of compliance.”

Manning said: “I would be happy to help with any revision with the sign ordinance.”

Forster said “if we are out of compliance” it should be looked at, and “the county should live by our own rules.”

The temporary sign ordinance came from a request from Strings Italian Café for a variance to place signs on a Highway 49 intersection, to direct traffic. It was requested to allow such signage during hard economic times, on a temporary basis. Supervisors discussed the issue in depth at its early September meeting, including who would decree that hard economic times are finished. (Staff said it would be declared by Supervisors).

County Planner Cara Augustin in September said that with the direction and discussion, “I think we can try to draft something that we can really pick apart at the Land Use Committee.” She was also asked to work with the different county departments on the fees associated with the temporary signage.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.