PORT ST. LUCIE — Port St. Lucie City Council members are considering changes to the city's rules governing LED signs, including how large the signs can be and whether they can display images in addition to text.
The discussion followed a request from a local church seeking permission for a larger LED display and the ability to include images. The church currently is limited by city code to a 20-square-foot LED sign displaying text.
Councilman Anthony Bonna said the request is partly a matter of accommodating the way LED panels are manufactured.
“He's not asking for the monument to be any larger, it's just the way that these LED panels are constructed. They're constructed in such a way that he would have to reduce the LED portion significantly, which would reduce the impact of his sign,” said Councilman Anthony Bonna. “I think the LED portion is currently allowed to be 20 square feet, but simply by increasing that to 24 square feet, we can address that.”
Bonna said the issue could extend beyond the current request if other property owners encounter similar limitations with LED displays.
“I think this is something where there may be similar requests in the future and it might make sense just to make the code compatible with how these panels are constructed,” he added.
City Attorney Richard Berrios said any change would involve updating the city's code rather than making an exception for one property.
“It would be a comprehensive amendment to the code to allow for a larger square footage is the general concept,” said city attorney Richard Berrios.
The council also discussed whether LED signs should be permitted to use imagery. Bonna said the current rules limit what can be displayed.
“He'd like to have some imagery in his LED display, and I think currently they're only permitted to have text,” said Bonna.
Mayor Shannon Martin said the restriction on images may have been established for specific reasons, but she was open to reconsidering it.
“I believe there are distinct reasons why we didn't allow the imagery portion of it, but I think it's important if everyone's on board, let's go back and take another look at it,” said Mayor Shannon Martin.
The discussion also touched on whether LED signs could serve a public purpose during emergencies. Councilwoman Stepahnie Morgan said some organizations have previously offered to use their signs to communicate emergency information.
“I know that the Methodist and the St. Andrews specifically said that they would post messages that were any type of an emergency and work with the city on posting anything. If there was an evacuation or if there were events or whatever, they would help out,” said Councilwoman Stepahnie Morgan.
Bonna suggested that the council consider the size and imagery questions independently rather than combining them into one issue.
“If the size is not as much of a robust debate as the images are, maybe we handle the two issues separately,” said Bonna.
Vice Mayor Jolien Caraballo agreed with that approach and said she also wants the city to examine how its rules compare with other large cities.
“I agree with separating the issue.,” said VIce Mayor Jolien Caraballo. “I would like to also see where we currently are at with best practices, looking at the top largest cities and size of sign with LEDs as well.”
The item is expected to return for discussion during the City Council's September workshop.
Any potential change to the city's sign code would first have to go before the Planning and Zoning Board. It would then require two readings before the City Council, with public notice provided as part of that process.