Elkhart County regulates outdoor flashing LED signs
From today’s issue of the Elkhart Truth comes news that:
GOSHEN — Elkhart County businesses, churches and schools won’t be able to get too flashy with their outdoor signs anymore.
In a bid to minimize distractions to drivers and maintain “tranquility” in residential and agricultural zones, Elkhart County commissioners on Monday approved new rules limiting electronic message boards. “More and more,” said Robert Nemeth, the county planner who helped craft the changes, signs are popping up on the county’s main travel corridors.
Specifically, the regulations state:
- special permits are now required, issued at the discretion of the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals, in areas zoned for residential or agricultural use. They still will be permitted, without need for special permits, in commercial and manufacturing zones and industrial parks.
- flashing messages prohibited, though scrolling messages still will be allowed
- a minimum of 300 feet is required between applicable signs and homes
- new limits on sign brightness (doesn’t say what they are)
They are really ugly, mainly because they’re so low resolution, and they’re cheap so everyone’s putting them up. So I’m not surprised the county is taking this kind of action.
