BACKGROUND
It has been requested by City Council for staff to provide information regarding digital signs along the Garden Grove (22) Freeway. Currently there are two types of digital signs that have been allowed along the Garden Grove Freeway. The first is what is identified as on-premise digital signs and the other is off-premise digital signs (billboards). On-premise digital signs are signs that only advertise the business that is on the property in which the sign is located. Off-premise digital signs (billboards) are signs that identify a use, facility, or service not conducted on the premises, or a product that is produced, sold or manufactured off-site.
The Sign Ordinance in Title 9 of the City’s Municipal Code limits the construction of digital signs to smaller freestanding monument structures for assembly type uses, such as a school or religious facility. Further, while the City’s Sign Ordinance does not address on-premise digital freeway oriented signs, some of the Planned Unit Development zoned properties adjacent to Garden Grove (22) Freeway do allow digital signs. Currently there are three on-premise digital signs along the Freeway. They are located within the Auto Center area and identify Volkswagen, Hyundai, and Toyota/Nissan. A fourth sign was approved by the Planning Commission for Next Level sports facility located on the north side of the Freeway at Knott Avenue, within a PUD zone. Next Level did not submit plans to the City for building permits. A fifth on-premise digital sign is currently being proposed by Simpson Chevrolet, located on the north side of the Freeway, east of Brookhurst Street.
In regard to off-premise digital signs (billboards), the City Council, in October 2014, approved a Code Amendment to the City’s Sign Ordinance that allows existing vinyl billboards that are proposed to be relocated along the Garden Grove Freeway to be converted to digital billboards, provided that they meet certain requirements. The Amendment came about because in the past the City had received requests from outdoor advertising (billboard) companies, that own billboards within the City, to relocate existing vinyl billboards along the Garden Grove (22) Freeway and convert them to electronic billboards. At the time, Chapter 20, Section 9.20.110 Billboards, did not allow the installation of new billboards, but did allow the relocation of existing billboards within the City via the Site Plan review process.
The changes to the Code that were approved provided definitions for electronic billboards and the Garden Grove (22) Freeway Corridor; provided clarification as to where the relocated/converted billboards can be located along the Garden Grove (22) Freeway; required the removal of vinyl billboards located elsewhere within the City of Garden Grove and spelled out the number of existing billboard structures/faces to be relocated and removed in exchange for the conversion of a relocated billboard structure/face to an electronic billboard face along the Garden Grove (22) Freeway Corridor; established distance requirements between electronic billboards and other billboards as well as residential zones; limited the intensity of light of the electronic billboard face; limited the size and square footage of electronic billboards; required the applicant to enter into a relocation agreement with the City; and required compliance with State and Federal law requirements. A copy of the Billboard Ordinance is attached as reference.
There is currently one digital billboard, located along the south side of the Garden Grove (22) Freeway on Cardinal Circle within the M-1 (Industrial) zone that was approved by the City for Clear Channel in October of 2014. A second digital off-premise (billboard) has been proposed along the north side of the Freeway at the southwest corner of Newhope Street and Trask Avenue in a Planned Unit Development zone.
As part of the Code Amendment staff was asked to look at the Garden Grove (22) Freeway and identify areas along the freeway where digital billboards could potentially be placed that would meet the City’s and State’s requirements for digital billboard placement. Along with identifying potential sites for the digital billboards, staff also identified where existing digital on-premises were located and where future ones were being proposed. A map has been attached that identifies where all existing freeway oriented digital signs are located along the freeway as well as existing freeway oriented vinyl billboards and the potential sites for future billboards.