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LISBON -- Downtown business owners won't have as many stringent rules to follow when it comes to their signage, windows or paint colors after village council voted Tuesday to eliminate or alter some historic design standards.
"I believe all businesses should be able to be creative, to have their signs represent their business," Councilwoman Linda Donnalley said.
Before the vote, Donnalley reviewed some of the changes made to the ordinance which is followed by the Architectural and Historic Board of Review. Council agreed to suspend council rules and passed the ordinance with all three readings at once. The measure becomes official in 30 days.
She explained that the biggest change regards signage, with everything removed with the exception of restricting signage to just the ground level if a building has multiple levels. For signage, businesses will follow what's in the zoning code, taking the decision-making out of the hands of the AHBR regarding font or size.
The AHBR rules came under fire recently when The Lincoln Social Hall owner Shannon Clark challenged the AHBR's denial of her sign application due to the font she selected, which they said wasn't one of the fonts approved according to the rules the board must follow for the downtown historic area.
When she tried to appeal, a Board of Building Appeals had not been appointed. Village council approved the sign, pending appointment of the BBA. Once the BBA was appointed, the board reviewed the case and affirmed the AHBR decision. That prompted Clark to approach council during a meeting, criticizing what she considered to be a double standard because other businesses were doing whatever they wanted.
According to Donnalley, another section changed dealt with building materials. The previous rules wanted windows and other materials to be historic, which can be expensive. She said the section was changed to request historic looking materials, which can be more cost effective and in the case of the windows, more energy efficient. Paint colors are no longer up for review, either.
AHBR Chairman John Deichler addressed council by saying nobody on the AHBR was contacted by any of the committee members drawing up these changes.
"I think it's a mistake not having uniformity on the size of lettering," he said in reference to signage.
He also said council might want to consider guidelines on what people can and cannot paint. For a historic building, an owner might want to keep the brick instead of painting over it.
He commented that the AHBR won't have much to do now and told council members they should just do away with the board and put it all on the zoning inspector. The idea behind the AHBR was to preserve the historical integrity of the downtown.
Deichler said Lisbon is unique due to it's age and the historic buildings downtown. He said there are other towns, but "they don't have all this treasure."
In other business, council approved the appointment of Patricia Kronenberg to the Zoning Board of Appeals, the purchase of barricades and orange cones for $1,224, an amended resolution for the auction of a 2002 Chevy Suburban on gov deals, reflecting that the vehicle is owned by the village and Center and Elkrun townships, and approved street cleaning (to be done today) before the Johnny Appleseed Festival at a cost of $165 per hour for eight hours.
mgreier@mojonews.com