Sign permits

[tdewitt]

How long does it take your municipality to process sign permits?

[tvliquidator1]

i think it would take 2-3 working days

[bonehead]

In the Kansas City area, there are roughly 22 municipalities. There are still a few who have 'counter service', and if it meets code, you can walk in with the paperwork and walk out with the permit. Most take a few days.

Some are now having the project go before some sort of zoning board or city council.

Our worst local kingdom is Leawood, which - believe it or not - can take up to a year. Yup, I said a year.

[tdewitt]

Most around here are like you stated "counter service" but we have one here in central Iowa that is taking up to 2 weeks to issue a permit for a simple face replacement, I'm talking about removing and replacing a simple tenant panel in a strip mall! They have got to be one of the most anti business muni's around! But after seeing what Leawood is doing down there... Wow how has no one taken them to court?

[burkeenterprise]

Most of the cities and small towns here in CT only take a few days, however, Don't count on that if your in a historic district or some of the costal towns. I just went to pick up a permit for 3 sets of channel letters and a simple face replacement after over a month of back and forth. (about 1-1/2 hour drive each way every time I had to go there) I was told on Friday all they needed now was the check.....I got there and they wanted an engineers document saying the signs would hold up to 110 mph wind. All the signs are replacement for existing using the same mounts... The pole sign is existing too the lexan inserts are all that changes. Good thing I have an engineer that is very responsive, he faxed in the paper and I got the permit.

Small people with a little power going to their heads.

[alltex]

In the Dallas-Ft Worth "Metro Plex". It can be anywhere from 2 days to 2 months. I had a simple monument sign take 9 weeks in Garland. It would have been longer. If I didn't go in person, and demand to see the planner. My shop and residence is in Garland. Most are taking 2-3 weeks around here. I'm guessing we deal with at least 80+ different municipalities yearly. Each who want their yearly contractor registration fees $75-$200.00. Oh well, beats not having any business.

[Erik Sine]

Heh

I'm working with the ciry of San Marcos right now for a non-illuminated monument sign and it's already taken a few months.

It has to go through four desks including the Fire Department.

The city wants to dictate to the private property owner about what colors they can choose from and how is has to appear, it has to "mix in with the environment " In other words nothing eye popping or noticeable. Ass backwards if you ask me and none of their god damn business what the private business or property owners want to do with their own property. Government getting the way with business once again in not wanting a business to thrive. Now, if this was some part of a Design Review Board I would have no issue, but it's not. This city also enforces CUP's or Conditional Use Permits, an extortion act that makes any business whether they are a yoga studio to a bakery who may hold a one day a month class file for a CUP that normally will cost around $25k. The CUP pays for the environmental study on how parking will be affected.

I could go on and on on The City of San Marcos but all I can say is, if you plan on opening up a business stay away from San Marcos.

The city of San Diego can be over the counted as long as the building is NOT over 40 years old., In such a case you have to go though Historic and pull a copy of the building records form the county which is only obtainable from the property owner. So there's that time to consider. Permits are about $750 right now. County of San Diego, forget about it. Your plans will travel through 7 different desk from the Rain and gutter to the Hippie Counter who want to make sure a swallows nest will not be formed in the are you plan on installing your sign. You will get a special set of instruction on who to call in case that happens.

This is how to do business in California Guys and Gals. That's why so many are leaving.

[bonehead]

I applied for a permit in the City of Lee's Summit, MO - a suburb of Kansas City. The rule for a wall sign is (was) 10 percent of the facade area. Facade is 1500 sq. ft. - sign area is 150 sq. ft. Both figures were on the drawing and the permit application. Application was rejected. Asked why, the inspector said I "didn't show my work - how I calculated that 150 square feet was ten percent of 1500 sq. ft." I.E., he wanted me to write down the algebra.

As Burke said above, Small people with a little power going to their heads.

[HansonSigns]

Weeks - 2 weeks for some of the better ones, 6 weeks for some....

[thephranc@gmail.com]

Part of my new job is to fetch permits from Maryland, DC, Virginia and DE. I've gotten some in minuets and others take months depending on comprehensive sign plans or historic conform-ability. Most take a few weeks. Each muni is different and with in each office there are some people who can get it done and other miserable government sloths who hate their job and punish the companies by unneeded delays. Fees are all over the place and they will kick a sign down to another agency just to milk that extra $5.

Today I spent almost 4 hours is PG county just for issuance of permits that had all ready been approved the week before. 17 permits cost over $1000 and the desk is only allowed to hand out 4 at a time. So you go in for 4 get back into the queue get 4 rinse repeat. All of this after it sat in review for 3 weeks because they wanted a photo of the building to show no other tenants had rights with in the 10% of frontage.( They use to have this but kept records in a basement and there was a flood so everything got ruined. They still have the paper work and its still wet and molded so they wont look through it ) This was for a reface of old awnings that had already been approved for the exact same thing under the previous permit for that location years ago. They just wanted to slap on new decals. Permitting cost more than install and material by almost 300% When you ad the permit cost and the billable time for me to sit there.

If you have to deal with permits regularly I advise getting chummy with the drones.