"Sign, sign, everywhere a sign …" Mandan's nearly 30-year-old sign ordinance is still undergoing a makeover through the city's Architectural Review Commission.

Holly Dickson, the panel's chair, said the commission is still integrating some of the public comments given over the last month into its final draft. Dickson said the final changes should be presented to the Mandan City Commission for an ordinance within the month.

All businesses that replace their signs or move their signs for building improvements must meet the new codes.

Projects that qualify for renaissance zone benefits also must look carefully at the new city standards, Dickson said.

"The most important thing is the commission updated the old policy. We removed some of the old wording. There were definitions that did not apply," she said.

Dickson said the commissioners really probed into what many other cities were doing on their sign policies, including Anchorage and Fargo.

International and state building codes also helped provide guidelines.

The city commission requested the sign ordinance be upgraded about two years ago, Dickson said.

City records show the last time the sign policy was updated was 1981.

"It was just time to make the change and the city is growing. We wanted to make sure the signs were up to international building code," Dickson said.

Dickson said the commission has worked with the business and contracting community, and has seen a strong cooperation with companies that specialize in making and installing signs. Their aim is to develop a sign law that applies to today's needs, materials and building codes.

"We met every week for a long time. The nice part was they did their research and then asked for our input. We (the sign companies) helped write the definitions," said Wayne Munson of Indigo Sign Works. "They took the time to educate themselves and then decided what to allow and not to allow."

Munson said he felt the business community was generally pleased with the outcome of the proposed ordinance. He said there are a few questions on some line items.

"The ordinance was quite old. It had things in it that do not pertain to today," said Geris Hopfauf of Hopfauf Custom Builders, who also is a member of the Architectural Review Commission. "It was important to have a sign ordinance that was uniform, aesthetically pleasing and cohesive for downtown Mandan. … I don't think the building community will have any issues with this," Hopfauf added.

Safety factored into the draft document as well. "They must meet wind loading standards," Dickson explained. "The signs cannot blow over in wind.'

The draft code details that no sign found to be structurally unsafe, in disrepair or abandoned, including signs that have tipped or overturned and have not been addressed in 48 hours will be allowed to remain in place. The ordinance states that such signs are declared to be a public nuisance, and will be vacated or removed.

For some affected, there was some apparent confusion in the draft code over the difference between an electronic sign and a flashing sign. Dickson said flashing signs are banned if they keep flashing the same message rapidly and could be mistaken for emergency vehicles.

However, scrolling electronic signs can be used if there is just a brief flashing of the message for a moment and it is not repeated for long periods of time.

Dickson said electronic signs are welcome and often attractive professional ways to display a business.

The ordinance about electronic signs specifies:

n Movement displayed on a sign through scrolling, traveling, animation, streaming video or any other method is only allowed on signs whose bottom edge is 10 feet or more above the street to which they are adjacent.

n Signs are allowed to be set at a maximum of three-tenths foot candles greater than ambient light.

n Flashing is prohibited.

n The city reserves the right to require any sign be modified based upon a display message, including timing or frame changes or effects of movements displayed.

n Signs using flashing, rotating or moving lights shall be prohibited unless they are used solely for public safety construction markers.

In another item of the draft, the ordinance bans signs being painted on any buildings.

It states that no signs can be attached, painted on trees, rocks, shrubs, natural features or organic material.

Obscene, indecent or pornographic or immoral words are banned within the ordinance language.

Older buildings cannot be grandfathered into the new ordinance if a new sign is installed, Dickson said.

If a sign is moved at an old business, the company must apply for a permit. If a long-time company closes and is not purchased, the code would require the owners to remove it within a certain amount of time.

The draft ordinance addresses the quality of materials used and that the signs must have a nice appearance. "It should be aesthetically pleasing and reflect that quality building materials were used," she said. "It goes on a case-by-case appearance."

Dickson said the cost of sign permits will not be increased. Their cost will remain $30.

(Reach reporter LeAnn Eckroth at 250-8264 or leann.eckroth@;bismarcktribune.com.)