Roswell businesses will face new limits on LED and neon window lighting after the Planning Commission unanimously approved two sign-code changes on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The commission voted 4-0 on both amendments, with Commissioner Pooja Gardner absent. The changes are first readings and still require approval from the Mayor and City Council before taking effect.

LED window lighting

The first amendment targets LED strip lighting that outlines storefront windows. Planning and Zoning Director Jeannie Peyton wrote in a Sept. 9 memo to the Mayor and City Council that the city's code did not specifically prohibit the practice. Many convenience and vape stores outline their windows with neon or LED lighting, she wrote, leaving code enforcement without language to issue citations.

Under the approved ordinance, internally illuminated window signs, including visible neon and LED, would be prohibited.  Each business would be allowed one neon or LED sign reading "open" or "closed," no larger than 5 square feet and covering no more than 30% of the window. The sign cannot blink, flash, fluctuate or animate.

The commission modified the original draft. Commissioner Robert Mayer moved to approve. Vice Chair Eric Schumacher seconded.

Neon and LED signs would be banned outright in the Historic Overlay District and Parkway Village zoning districts. Separately, the Mayor and City Council on Monday, Sept. 14, unanimously approved a 90-day moratorium on new sign illumination in the Historic Overlay District, according to Roswell Connections. The LED amendment would make the prohibition in those two districts permanent.

The amendment first came before the commission on April 21 and returned Sept. 15 with revised text.

Real estate signs

The second amendment updates rules for temporary on-site real estate signs. Peyton's memo said staff had received complaints about signage advertising space on partially occupied properties. The existing code required removal of ground signs once a property was leased, but did not address buildings with a mix of occupied and vacant units.

Under the approved change, once a building is fully occupied, ground-mounted real estate signs are no longer allowed. Landlords advertising later vacancies must use a panel on an existing monument sign or place a sign in the window of the empty space. Applicants must now provide proof of occupancy status when submitting a sign permit. The amendment also adds the term "Occupied" and a formal definition to the city's code.

Sign permits last 90 days and must be renewed. Only one sign per parcel is allowed, limited to 32 square feet and 10 feet in height.

Corner lots may have one sign per frontage, separated by at least 50 feet.

Chair Kitty Singleton moved to approve. Commissioner Carol Williams seconded. That amendment was also first heard on April 21, when the commission deferred it.

What's next

Both amendments head to the Mayor and City Council for a second reading and final vote. No date for that hearing has been confirmed. The commission's next regular meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 20, when it will take up a deferred proposal to add an auto showroom use to the city's development code.