3873324 Resolution 19-592, "Sign Regulation Congressional Review Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2012"

A RESOLUTION

 

19-592 

 

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

October 2, 2012

 

To declare the existence of an emergency, due to Congressional review, with respect to the need to provide the Mayor with the authority to revise and consolidate the District’s sign    regulations through rulemaking, and to authorize the Mayor to establish a clear system          for the display of exterior signs and enforcing these sign-related requirements.

 

            RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this

resolution may be cited as the “Sign Regulation Congressional Review Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2012”.

 

            Sec. 2. (a) The District’s sign regulations have been amended numerous times since

their enactment in 1931 and have become confusing, internally inconsistent, and obsolete. The

Federal Highway Administration has also recently issued a report in which it

concludes that the District is out of compliance with the federal Highway Beautification Act and

could lose 10% of its federal highway funding, approximately $15 million annually, if corrective

action is not taken.

            (b) As a result of these concerns, the Mayor established a multi-agency Sign Regulation

Working Group (“Working Group”) to review sign regulations and develop a comprehensive,

consolidated set of proposed rules governing exterior signs on public space and private property.

The Mayor directed the Working Group to develop rules that would: (1) reflect a

comprehensive, consistent policy for the regulation of signs; (2) satisfy all applicable federal and

local legal requirements; (3) promote public safety; (4) establish an operationally effective

approach to permitting that is comprehensible to the public; and (5) provide for a clear,

consistent means for enforcement.

            (c) Another goal of the Working Group is to improve the current rules by consolidating

rules relating to signs in a single location, rather than having them scattered through separate

sections of the D.C. Official Code and the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations.

            (d) The Working Group is composed of the Directors, or their designees, of the

Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, the District Department of Transportation, the

Office of Planning, the Historic Preservation Review Board, the Department of Public Works,

the Construction Codes Coordinating Board, and the Office of the Attorney General. The

Working Group has been meeting since January of 2012 to develop the proposed rules and has

met with numerous stakeholders to receive input on the desirability of different approaches. The

Working Group is nearing completion of a draft of the proposed regulations, but the Council

must provide rulemaking authority to the Mayor to allow them to be published.

            (e) The Council passed emergency legislation to ensure that the District’s sign regulations are promptly updated in a manner consistent with sound policy and effective operations, and that the District’s rules comply with all applicable federal regulations.  The emergency act will expire on October 9, 2012.  The accompanying temporary legislation is not projected to become law until November 15, 2012.   This Congressional review legislation is necessary to ensure that there is no gap period while the temporary bill completes the Congressional review period.

 

            Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances

enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Sign

Regulation Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2012 be adopted after a single reading.

 

            Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.