A2
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: January 17, 1997
Dept. File No. PAJ
C.C. File: 113/2851
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Director of Land Use and Development, in consultation with the Directors of Permits and Licenses and Finance
SUBJECT: Sign By-law Fees
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to prepare an amendment to the Sign By-law, generally
in accordance with Appendix A, to:
(i) increase existing fees for sign permit applications and encroachments by 35 percent; and
(ii) establish new fees to allow the public to make application to amend the regulations of the Sign
By-law, and
B. THAT the Directors of Permits and Licenses, Finance, and Legal Services and the City Engineer be
instructed to consider incorporating Sign By-law encroachment fees into the Encroachment By-law for
report back to Council.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of A and B, noting however that the recommended fee
increases and new fees do not fully recover costs. Many signs are illegally erected in the city without permits
and consequently costs are recovered only from those persons who are honest or who get caught. Since Sign By-law
enforcement is not a priority relative to enforcement of life-safety by-laws, the number of illegal signs
continually increases. The By-law requires a thorough review in the context of the City s inability to fund the
necessary enforcement without increasing fees and fines to levels which are likely to be unacceptable to Council.
Ironically, staff resources are not available for this review. Consequently, the General Manager recommends
approval of A on the basis that it at least improves cost recovery.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council policy is to establish and maintain fee schedules which fully recover costs associated with processing permit
applications and by-law amendment applications.
SUMMARY
Staff recommend that existing Sign By-law fees, which have not been increased since 1989, be increased by 35 percent
based on increases that have been applied to other permit fees over the same period. The minimum fee for a sign permit
would increase from $40.00 to $54.00. The minimum annual fee for a sign which encroaches over a street would rise from
$8.50 to $12.00. Encroachment fees are recommended for further review and consolidation in the Encroachment By-law.
Staff also recommend that new fees be established to allow the public to make application to amend the regulations of the
Sign By-law, in the same way that they can now make application to amend the regulations of the Zoning and Development
By-law. The new fees are based on Zoning and Development By-law amendment fees and would range from $100.00 for a simple
administrative amendment to $6,000.00 for a complex one.
PURPOSE
This report recommends amendments to the Sign By-law to increase existing fees to better reflect cost recovery, and to
establish new fees to allow the public to make application to amend Sign By-law regulations.
BACKGROUND
The fees and charges applicable to sign permit applications and sign encroachments over city streets were established in
the late eighties as part of the review of the previous Sign By-law. The fees and charges came into effect in June 1989
with enactment of the current Sign By-law and have not been increased since.
There are no fees for applications to amend the Sign By-law because Council did not have the authority to impose such
fees in 1989. This authority was obtained in August 1994 through an amendment to the Vancouver Charter.
Staff receive several enquiries a year from persons interested in obtaining amendments to the Sign By-law either to
change the regulations which apply to a particular type of sign (e.g., banner signs) or to a particular site (e.g.,
General Motors Place). At present, these enquiries result in a report to Council only if Council or the City Clerk ask
for a report to be done, or if staff believe the amendment is warranted. No costs are recovered for the staff analysis
and report preparation or for the processing of the amendments through Public Hearing to enactment.
Administration of the Sign By-law, including permit processing and enforcement and permit fee cost recovery, is the
responsibility of the Director of Permits and Licenses. Sign policy and objectives on which Sign By-law regulations are
based, and amendments to the policies, objectives and regulations, are the responsibility of the Director of Land Use and
Development.
DISCUSSION
Permit Application Fees: The basic fee for a sign permit is $40.00. This fee was intended to recover permit processing
costs, including one site inspection after the sign is erected. Additional fees apply to:
a sign requiring an electrical permit ($40.00);
a sign incorporating a supporting structure ($40.00);
a sign requiring more than one field inspection after sign installation ($40.00 per additional inspection);
a sign erected before a permit is issued ($200.00).
Since most signs are illuminated and require an electrical permit, most facia (i.e., wall) signs pay an $80.00 fee, while
most free-standing signs, which require a supporting structure, pay a $120.00 fee.
Although staff have not carried out a detailed accounting of all the costs associated with administering and enforcing
the Sign By-law, staff know that permit fees do not recover costs. Sign By-law fee revenues were $40,500 in 1995. There
is currently one position in the Permits and Licenses Department devoted to sign permit processing with additional staff
seconded as needed. Building Inspectors also carry out a site inspection once the sign is in place. In addition,
Planning staff respond to the more difficult sign enquiries, advise Permits and Licenses staff on By-law interpretations,
and process and prepare positions on Board of Variance sign appeals. Engineering staff review most signs which encroach
over city streets.
Staff recommend that a full assessment of Sign By-law fees await the outcome of the Development and Building Regulations
Review which should result in some changes to sign permit administration. In the meantime, staff recommend that existing
Sign By-law fees be increased by the same amount that building permit fees have been increased since 1989. Building
permit fees have been increased an average of 2-3 percent per annum between 1989 and 1996. Based on the 1997
comprehensive review of trade permit fees, undertaken in the latter part of 1996, it would be necessary to make the
following adjustments to achieve cost recovery: 10 percent increase for city support services, 3 percent for departmental
administration, and 2 percent for document imaging. Overall, permit fee increases necessary to achieve cost recovery from
1989 to 1997 would have represented a 35 percent increase. Using this as a proxy, the basic sign permit fee would
therefore increase from $40.00 to $54.00.
Staff also recommend that an additional fee be established to apply to all signs which require the Sign Permit Review
Clerk to site check the location of the proposed sign prior to permit issuance or refusal. Certain signs require site
checks to determine whether they conform with regulations which require setbacks or separation from residential uses or
other signs. Over the past few years, staff have found that they cannot rely on the accuracy of this information
provided by applicants. Consequently, staff recommend that signs which need a site visit prior to permit issuance,
(billboards, free-standing signs and parking lot advertising signs) pay an additional fee of $54.00 at time of
application.
The By-law currently provides for application and permit fees to be collected in two stages: $40.00 at time of
application, and the remaining fees, if applicable, prior to permit issuance. Staff recommend that the By-law be amended
to reflect the current practice of collecting all permit fees at time of application. The recommended change to the
By-law and new fees are set out in Appendix A.
Registration Fee: The By-law provides for a $25.00 registration fee for facia and awning signs which are exempt from
permit requirement providing they meet certain regulations, and information about the sign is provided to the City within
one week of the sign s erection. Staff have not utilized this fee category to date but are presently finalizing
procedures to allow these signs to be erected without permit, registered, and the $25.00 fee charged. Staff recommend
that this fee also be increased 35 percent to $34.00.
Encroachment Fee: The By-law provides for the owner of a sign which encroaches over a street to pay an annual fee based
on the area of the encroachment. This fee currently generates approximately $45,000 annually in revenue but is
administratively costly to collect due to the large number of signs for which a fee is paid (approximately 2,000), and
the low annual fee ($8.50 for each 2 m2 of sign face up to a maximum of $35.00).
Encroachments over City property which do not involve signs (e.g., canopies which do not have signage, and other building
appurtenances such as cornices) are regulated and annual fees charged through the Encroachment By-law. Fees levied
through the Encroachment By-law are calculated on a different basis than encroachment fees levied through the Sign
By-law. Staff feel it would be preferable if all encroachment fees were levied through the same by-law and calculated on
a consistent basis. Staff are currently reviewing the Encroachment By-law for other reasons, and recommend that this
review include consideration of incorporating Sign By-law encroachment fees in the Encroachment By-law. In the meantime,
staff recommend that encroachment fees in the Sign By-law be increased by the same amount as permit and registration fees
(35 percent).
Amendment Application Fee: Staff recommend that fees be established to allow the public to make application to amend the
Sign By-law similar to the application fees which apply to amendments to the Zoning and Development By-law, since
amendments to both By-laws require a Public Hearing.
Staff recommend establishing five separate fees for Sign By-law amendments. The first two would apply to applications
which amend any section of the By-law other than the section which assigns sign regulations to sites zoned Comprehensive
Development District (Schedule E). The remaining three fees would apply to amendments to Schedule E.
The recommended application fees are set out on page 4 of Appendix A and range from a low of $100 for a Sign By-law
amendment accompanying a CD-1 rezoning, to a high of $6,000 for significant amendments involving, for example, creation
of a new sign schedule.
Staff do not have much experience with Sign By-law amendment reports, compared with the more frequent Zoning and
Development By-law amendment reports. The two reports which have been prepared at the public s (rather than Council s or
the Director of Land Use and Development s) initiative in the past three years would both have required a $6,000 fee, had
these proposed fees been in effect. These include the report which resulted in a site-specific sign schedule for General
Motors Place and the report responding to the School Board s request for an automatic changeable copy sign at Vancouver
Technical Secondary School. Both these reports required similar staff resources as needed to assess issues and produce a
report on an amendment to the text of the Zoning and Development By-law, for which a $6,000 fee is charged. The lower
proposed fee categories of $1,000 and $4,000 reflect less resources needed for these amendments, and are also based on
Zoning and Development By-law fee amendment categories.
The Zoning and Development By-law fee categories are currently being reviewed and significant increases are expected to
be recommended to Council this year. In addition, the General Motors Place and Vancouver Technical School sign
amendments both cost more than the proposed $6,000 fee. However, staff are reluctant to recommend higher Sign By-law
amendment fees than the Zoning By-law amendment fees currently in effect. Staff will monitor resources needed to process
Sign By-law amendments and recommend fee increases if the proposed fees do not on average recover costs.
Staff note that the regulations and the format of the Sign By-law do not lend themselves to the site-specific sign
schedule created for General Motors Place. A fee category has been created, however, since Council approved this
amendment and two other site-specific amendments in the past five years. If many more site-specific sign regulations are
to be created, the By-law will require a comprehensive review and rewrite.
PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS
The increased permit fees will not affect staffing requirements and will better recover costs involved in processing sign
applications, particularly those requiring site inspections prior to permit issuance. It is expected, however, that
establishment of a fee to allow members of the public to apply for a Sign By-law amendment will generate more
applications for amendment than are presently initiated by staff and Council. This will require more Planning staff
resources to be applied to Sign By-law amendment work, likely at the expense of other policy work assigned to the
Projects Planner II position in the Land Use and Development Division. Staff will report back to Council if Sign By-law
work increases to a level where additional staff resources are needed or Council direction is required in determining
staff priorities.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommend that existing fees in the Sign By-law be increased 35 percent. Staff also recommend new fees for signs
that require site inspections as part of the permit application review, and new fees for amendments to the Sign By-law.
Additional administrative amendments are recommended to simplify fee collection and to reflect current practice, and sign
encroachment fees are recommended to be considered for consolidation in the Encroachment By-law.
* * * * *
APPENDIX A
Page 1 of 4
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 13 OF THE SIGN BY-LAW
(Underlining indicates revised or new wording;
indicates deletion)
13.1 Permit Application Fee
Each applicant for a sign permit shall submit a fee of $40.00. If the application is approved,
this fee shall be applied to the permit fee set out in Section 13.2, but it is otherwise, except
as set out in Section 13.4, non-refundable.
13.2 Permit Fee
The following permit fees shall be paid before a permit is issued:
Every person applying to the Director for a sign permit shall pay to the City at the time such
application is filed the appropriate fee as set out in this section, and no application is valid
without such payment:
EXISTING PROPOSED
FEE FEE
(a) For each sign requiring a permit .................... plus
(b) For each sign requiring an electrical connection ..... plus
(c) For each sign incorporating a supporting structure ....
plus
(d) For a billboard, free-standing sign or parking lot advertising sign ......
$40.00
$40.00
$40.00
$54.00
$54.00
$54.00
$54.00
(e) Except when Section 5.5.2 has not been
complied with, where any sign has been erected
before a permit has been issued for such sign,
the minimum fee in clause (a) of this section
for field inspection, in addition to all other
fees shall be...................
$200.00 $270.00
13.2 Additional Inspection Fee
13.2.1 Each permit fee described in Section 13.1, provides
for one field inspection. Where any additional field
inspection is required to complete the final
inspection on a installation, the fee for each
additional inspection shall be ...........
$40.00 $54.00
13.3 Permit Fee Refund
(i) No sign permit application fee shall be refunded after the application has been
approved or refused, but if the application has been withdrawn, prior to processing,
the Director of Finance may refund to the applicant a part of the fee as recommended
by the Director of Permits and Licenses.
(ii) No sign permit fee shall be refunded if work authorized by the permit has commenced,
but if the work has not commenced, and the Director so certifies, the Director of
Finance may refund to the application a part of the fee as recommended by the
Director of Permits and Licenses.
13.4
Registration Fee
13.4.1 For a facia sign installed in accordance with Section 5.3.1(a), a registration fee is required
as follows:
EXISTING
FEE
PROPOSED
FEE
For each sign face ............ $25.00 $34.00
13.4.2 For an awning sign installed in accordance with Section 5.3.1(b), a registration fee is
required as follows:
For each awning sign .......... $25.00 $34.00
13.5 Annual Encroachment Charge
13.5.1 The owner of a sign, other than a facia sign which encroaches over any street, shall pay
annually the following charge based on the area of the sign face which encroaches, including
all faces:
Area of Sign Face EXISTING FEE PROPOSED
Encroaching Over a Street (for Each Sign Face) FEE
Up to 2 m2 $ 8.50 $12.00
2.01 to 4 m2 12.50 17.00
4.01 to 6 m2 18.00 25.00
6.01 to 10 m2 26.00 35.00
For each addition 1 m2 or fraction thereof 0.15 0.20
over 10 m2
Maximum charge for each sign face 35.00 47.00
13.5.2 The charge set out in Section 13.5.1 shall be due and payable the first business day of
January of each year, provided, however, that the charge for any sign installed after July
31st in any year, shall be one-half of the charge shown in Section 13.5.1.
13.5.3 The Director shall cause the removal, in accordance with Section 12.2.2, of any sign when the
charge payable pursuant to this section remains unpaid six months after it has become due and
payable.
13.6 Amendment Application Fee
13.6.1 Every person applying to the City Council for an amendment to the Sign By-law shall pay to the
City at the time such application is filed with the Director of Planning the appropriate fee
as set forth in this section, and no application is valid without such payment.
(a) For an amendment to the By-law, other than Schedule E, where no
more than one section requires amendment .............
$4,000.00
(b) For an amendment to the By-law, other than Schedule E, where more
than one section requires amendment or where the amendment would
allow a type of sign that is not permitted ..................
$6,000.00
(c) For an amendment to Schedule E:
(i) To assign a Comprehensive Development District, at time of
creation of the District, to the same sign schedule that
applied to the site prior to its Comprehensive Development
District zoning ...........................
$ 100.00
(ii) To assign a Comprehensive Development District to an
existing sign schedule with different sign regulations
than currently apply to the site
$1,000.00
(iii) To assign a Comprehensive Development District to a
new schedule to be created .........
$6,000.00
13.6.2 No fee paid to the City pursuant to Section 13.6.1 shall be refunded after the application for
the amendment has been considered by the Director of Planning, but where the application has
been withdrawn before being considered by the Director of Planning, the Director of Finance
may refund to the applicant such part of the fee as is recommended by the Director of
Planning.
13.6.2 Where an application to amend the Sign By-law is made by the Director of Planning at the
direction of City Council, no fee pursuant to this By-law shall be payable.