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Lakeway residents may notice more pops of color around the city following the approval of a new sign ordinance in February.
Diving in deeper
The ordinance changes were initially proposed by Lakeway’s Economic Development Committee.
“What we’re trying to do is increase visibility of these businesses so they can be seen by potential customers,” EDC Chair Larry Harlan said.
The measure was adopted by Lakeway City Council in a 5-2 decision Feb. 17, with Mayor Tom Kilgore and council member Kent O’Brien opposed to the final version of the ordinance.
Like other cities in the Lake Travis-Westlake area, Lakeway’s prior sign ordinance rules only allowed business signs to be built in earth-tone colors. Although initially larger in scope, the approved ordinance changes include:
The existing city ordinance allows new businesses to have “now open” or “coming soon” banners. A provision to allow shopping centers with at least 20 tenants to show banners was also presented, but was removed from the final version of the ordinance following an amendment proposed by council member Kelly Brynteson.
“I think people are cautiously trying to stagger-step this in, and we hope the steps we are doing is positive for our smaller businesses,” Brynteson said. "We’re trying to ease it into what residents have to say in regards to this, as well as supporting our small businesses."
Kilgore voted in opposition to the amended ordinance, saying the amendment rejects the vision of the EDC.
My opposition is because I believe that both requests by the EDC and the business community were reasonable to have the temporary banners and to have the colors on the real estate signs," Kilgore said. "Since we approved it but without that, I’m voting against that."
