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Places of worship sign ordinance changes made

By Mark H. Stowers


A public hearing was held at the Birmingham City Commission meeting on Monday, July 22, to amend language in the city sign ordinance in order to amend the language from “church” to “religious institutions” and adjust the standards for maximum area, height, illumination and numbers.


Nick Dupuis, planning director, gave a short presentation explaining the changes. The Our Shepard of the Lutheran Church on 14 Mile Road initiated the application-based request after going through a site plan request.


Our Shepherd Lutheran Church sought to install three new signs at a total of around 70 square feet of new signage. Because of their location, the current sign ordinance permitted only 20 square feet. The applicant sought a variance for 50 square feet of signage and was denied. The parcel has over 500 feet of frontage on 14 Mile and is larger than one acre. The city's design review board sought to work through the issue to bring consistency while being cognizant of the residential zoning in the area and not allow signs that were large and bright in illumination.


On the March 6 agenda, the design review board provided direction to the planning department to pursue a building frontage-based requirement and held discussions regarding other standards. The design board requested information on any existing signs that the city has data for to understand what might be existing in the city. On the May 1 agenda, the design review board moved to set a public hearing date to review the proposed ordinance and make a recommendation to the city commission.


The new language was rewritten to mimic the rest of the city’s sign ordinance. It was decided to cap a religious institution’s sign at 75 square feet. The maximum height was set as six feet above grade for ground signs and 24 inches for wall signs or name letter signs.


The verbiage change from 'church' to 'religious institutions' was to mimic the rest of the city’s zoning ordinance. This was adjusted from a singular church to a religious institution as a general term as defined in the zoning ordinance. They are not limited as to what can go on the sign but just the size.


Current church or religious institutions signs would be grandfathered in if over the new limit until any physical changes are made to an existing sign. The sign ordinance changes were passed unanimously, with mayor Elaine McLain and mayor pro tem Katie Schafer absent.

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