A FRAMEWORK FOR ON-PREMISE SIGN REGULATIONS is particularly important in light of the prevailing tendency to limit sizes of signs to the extent that they cannot be comprehended by the motorist on the adjacent highway; and to impose limitations based on concerns about traffic safety that cannot be readily supported. The Model Code in A FRAMEWORK FOR ON-PREMISE SIGN REGULATIONS is guided by principles that have been developed by both planners and various groups within the sign industry. Over the last twenty or so years the standards applicable to each of these factors have been documented in several books and other publications, many of which are listed in the appendix. Additionally these principles were recently endorsed by the American Planning Association in its 2004 Planning Advisory Service Report No. 527, STREET GRAPHICS AND THE LAW.

The goal of A FRAMEWORK FOR ON-PREMISE SIGN REGULATIONS is to provide communities with an appropriate method for formulating on-premise sign regulations that fully respect the comprehensive purposes of signs from the perspective of both community and business interests. These purposes include:

• Serving a legitimate business advertising function.
• Using signs as a means of “way finding” to assure that signs efficiently direct the motorists from the highway/roadway to the adjacent facilities.
• Assure that signs are sized and arranged to minimize clutter and prevent unsafe conditions.
• Assure that signs and their message are of sufficient size to be legible and comprehensible to the intended audience, which is typically a passing motorist.

ALAN C. WEINSTEIN, Associate Professor of Law & Urban Studies, Director, Law & Public Policy Program, Cleveland State University

DAVID HARTT, President D.B Hartt Inc., Planning and Development Consultants
 

COMPREHENSIVE WHITE PAPER REVIEW OF SIGNAGE LITERATURE - Current progress in the careful review and organization of the available literature reveals seven pillars of influence and education on signage in the past fifty years. These pillars include Business, Urban Design, Engineering & Technology, Planning, Government & Law, and Psychology. This report will act as a base for the education and research in the field of signage as it will identify the gaps in knowledge and act as a starting point for future research and study efforts.

Several marketing and business journals offer the majority of text on the role of signs in their physical form as well as the effects of their messages in promoting the growth of businesses. While an increasingly large number of books written in the field of urban design comment on the more artistic components of signs including the form, symbols, and lettering, several studies in the field of psychology have been conducted to investigate the affects of signage on the consumers’ ability to comprehend and react positively to content and design of signs. The literature on based on engineering and technology focus on the innovative techniques of developing signs as well as their design effectiveness. There is also a wealth of knowledge in the field of sign making through the study of patents. The American Planning Association has also taken the lead in producing the largest breadth of reviews on signage and its connections to the interdependent fields of planning law. These reports address the issues of sign control with respect to both on-site and off-site signage and the implications of these street graphics in the environment and community. In addition, organizations such as the Small Business Administration, the United States Sign Council, and the International Sign Association have also focused areas of research in the production processes of on-premise signage as well as their effects on businesses all around the country.

JOAN CHRISTODOULOU, MPhil Student Cambridge University