Sussex officials look at public notice sign makeover

Those yellow signs you see planted in the ground on your travels around Sussex County may be in for a makeover.

The 18-by-24-inch signs are posted by Sussex County planning and zoning staff to announce public hearings for properties, including conditional use, major subdivision, rezoning, residential planned community, variance and special-use exception applications.

Concerns about the small size of the signs have surfaced over the years. “Councilman [Mark] Schaeffer brought this up, and we should talk about it,” said Sussex County Council President Mike Vincent.

During council's June 22 meeting, County Administrator Todd Lawson and Planning and Zoning Director Jamie Whitehouse presented possible upgrades, including a larger sign with more information.

Whitehouse said planning and zoning staff post the signs, take photos of the postings and sign an affidavit listing the date of the posting, which are all added to the public record on an application.

Whitehouse said the signs are sometimes perceived as too small and not easy to read, with not enough information. He said most signs cannot be read from the road, forcing people to exit their vehicles to read them. Whitehouse based possible upgrades on the process used in Kent County, which has larger 36-by-48-inch signs in metal frames for most applications.

Whitehouse said an enlarged sign could contain much more information, including a map and possibly a QR (quick response) code to allow residents to use cellphones to link to the county website and applications. He suggested a larger sign could be used for conditional use, major subdivision, rezoning and residential planned community applications. Smaller signs could still be used to announce hearings for variances and special-use exceptions heard by the Sussex County Board of Adjustment.

Schaeffer asked Whitehouse whether or not upgraded signs are necessary. “We definitely need to include more information,” he responded, adding a metal frame would provide more support to the signs.

“We receive comments about visibility and signs falling down or being blown down,” Whitehouse said.

The matter will be placed on a future council agenda. “We will work with our sign company on a prototype and return with ideas,” Lawson said.