Arlington County’s infamous sign ordinance is loosening up, and the new revisions are looking good to area businesses. The draft rules would solve some of the problems business owners have been grumbling about for years, allowing sandwich board signs on sidewalks and decals on outdoor table umbrellas. They would also streamline the process for sign approval, letting businesses go through county staff rather than having to wait for the county board to vote on proposed signs.
“I’m just glad to see a positive shift in direction,” said Jim Barker, president of the Washington Wine Academy, which was previously denied a sign because the business didn’t fit any of the law’s permissible categories. “It gives me hope for getting through the [sign approval] process.”
Crystal City Business Improvement District President Angela Fox said she was glad businesses would no longer have to get County Board approval for signs, making the process much faster.
“I think that will really help. County staff works every day and the County Board meets only every few weeks,” she said.
Ryan Fochler, owner of the Arlington kennel Dog Paws and Cat Claws, agreed.
“Anything that can speed up the process would be huge. Time is money for sure,” he said.
Fochler previously complained that his business signs are barely visible from the road, but praised the county for listening to his plea for help.
Debbie Albert, a county staffer helping rewrite the ordinance, said the goal was not to dramatically increase the number of signs allowed in the county, but to make the approval process easier for businesses and staff.
“There’s a lot of things that come to us and just aren’t addressed in ordinance,” she said. “It’s difficult.”
The new revisions do not include new definitions of “sign” or “public art” — a project that Albert said county staff was still working on and which could affect a lawsuit filed against the county last year by a pet business that was ordered to cover up its dog-themed outdoor mural because it violated the sign ordinance. New definitions would be finished by the time the ordinance revisions reach the County Board, should staff decide they are needed.
The county will hold a public forum on the revisions Sept. 13 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Washington Lee High School. The County Board will vote on the changes by the end of the year.
