The Orange City Council Tuesday approved new ordinances regulating signs and creating new categories of signs.
The new categories are “exhibitions signs” and “special event signs.”
According to the new rules, an “exhibition sign” is for a “cultural or performing exhibition, event or performance of a historic, cultural or artistic nature such as plays, concerts and museum exhibits.”
Special event signs are “for special events of a community-wide event or activity conducted by, or sponsored by, on or behalf of a unit of local government, an agency of the State of Texas, an accredited institute of higher learning, a charitable organization or a not-for-profit organization such as Bassmasters, and boat races.”
The new rules will classify “blade signs, banners, balloons, feather flags, inflatables, air dancers, inflatable tubes, and pennants” as “promotional signs.”
In addition, the ordinances will regulate the size of signs in windows and how much surface of a window may be covered with a sign. Planning Director Kelvin Knauf told the council that businesses that already have window signs will be “grandfathered in” and not have to meet the new rules unless the current signs are removed.
Another change will be for shopping center signs. Under the new rules, a shopping center will be allowed 600 square feet of total sign including the identification of the shopping center.
The council also approved a zone change for the newly-annexed land around International Paper containerboard mill on North Highway 87. Knauf said new annexations are automatically made Residential-1 zones. The zone change will be to Industrial.
During the citizen comments time, lawyer Leslie Barras, who lives in the Old Orange Historic District, explained to the council why she is suing to stop the council from moving city hall from adjacent to the historic district to the 16th Street commercial strip. She said she is a native of Port Arthur. “One of my greatest fears is that Orange will become like Port Arthur,” she said.
She called the change of Port Arthur “death by a thousand cuts.” “Together they drew the vitality out of the downtown.”
Now, cities across the country are spending large amounts of money to move life back to downtown areas.
She used Natchitoches, Louisiana, as an example of a small town that grew and drew visitors with a dynamic downtown. Orange could become like Natchitoches because the city has invested in a riverfront boardwalk and park.
The council conducted a closed-door executive session to discuss the lawsuit filed by Barras and the non-profit Historic Orange Preservation Empowerment (HOPE). A hearing in 260th State District Court on an injunction against the city is set for March 2.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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