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Description of the Request:
Amend the Chapter 64 of the Land Development
Code (the “Sign Code), adding Section 64.401,
to create special sign districts for certain activity
centers along limited access roadways. Allows
architecturally enhanced monument signs con-
taining a digital sign up to 400 square feet in size
under certain circumstances; subject to opera-
tion, resolution, setback, and other performance
standards.
S U M M A RY
Owner
N/A
Applicant
City of Orlando
Project Planner
Jason Burton, AICP
Staff Report to the
Municipal Planning Board
August 18 , 2015
H I G H WAY D I G I TA L S I G N S
L A N D D E V E L O M P E N T C O D E A M E N D M E N T
A D D E N D U M
L D C 2 0 1 5 - 0 0 3 0 6
I T E M # 1 0
Staff’s Recommendation:
Approval of the request.
Public Comment
Staff posted this item on the City’s website, and
place a classified ad in the Orlando Sentinel. No
public comments have been received as of the
date of the Staff Report.
Updated: August 17, 2015
Overview.
It is proposed that only DRI’s or urban villages of 500 acres or greater with access from two interchanges be eligible for Highway
Digital Signs, in order to further limit the potential amount of these signs within the City. This reduces the likelihood of existing
digital billboards along Interstate-4 coming into visual conflict with a potential highway digital sign in the Millenia area (which was
proposed in the previous staff report).
Analysis.
The Millenia area has digital billboards today, whereas the other areas proposed (Lake Nona, Universal) do not; staff wishes to fur-
ther limit the eligible locations of Highway Digital Signs in order to reduce the potential of creating additional sign clutter.
Revised Draft Ordinance and Maps.
On the following pages includes an edit to the draft ordinance to reflect these new requirements. The map shown as Figure 64.401-3
in the original staff report will be deleted from the proposed staff recommendation.
A N A LY S I S
LDC2015-00306—Highway Dig ita l S ign Distr ic t Page 2
DRAFT ORDINANCE LANGUAGE—Revised edits are shown in BOLD CAPS below:
PART 8. SPECIAL SIGN DISTRICTS
****
Sec. 64.401. Highway Digital Sign District
(a) District and subdistricts established. There is hereby established a “Highway Digital Sign District”, with three subdis-
tricts to be known as the “Universal Studios Subdistrict”, the “Lake Nona Subdistrict” and the “Millenia Subdistrict”. The
boundaries of the district and each of the subdistrict are depicted in Figures 64.401-1, 64.401-2 and 64.401-3. All district and
subdistrict boundaries follow the centerline of the public rights-of-way show in these figures. Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of the City’s Land Development Code to the contrary, within the Highway Digital Sign District, and its subdistricts, the
following sign regulations of this section apply. Unless otherwise provided in this section, and then only to the extent necessary
to implement the provision of this section, all other ordinances of the City remain effective and applicable to signs within the
Highway Digital Sign District, and its subdistricts.
{Editors Note: INSERT MAPS OF THREE SUBDISTRICTS HERE}
(b) Purpose and intent. The regulations of this section are intended to allow digital signs along limited access right-of-
ways for activity centers that are Development of Regional Impacts (or its equivalent), which allow for on-site identification
opportunities that function as wayfinding to destinations within the subdistrict from the adjacent limited access roadway, con-
trolled by a master developer.
(c) Highway Digital Sign requirements. The following design and function requirements apply to potential digital signs
along limited access roadways:
1. ELIGIBLE DEVELOPMENTS. AN ACTIVITY CENTER OR URBAN VILLAGE THAT IS GREATER
THAN 500 ACRES IN SIZE WITH AT LEAST TWO INTERCHANGES THAT ACCESS THE DEVEL-
OPMENT IS ELIGIBLE FOR HIGHWAY DIGITAL SIGN DISTRICTS.
2. Number of Signs. Each eligible activity center shall be allowed one highway digital sign for each interchange that
is adjacent to the activity center, placed visible to a limited access roadway:
A. Universal Studios. Two signs (Kirkman Road, and Universal Blvd/Adventure Way interchanges)
B. Lake Nona. Three signs (Boggy Creek Road, Lake Nona Blvd and Narcossee Road interchanges).
2. Size and Height. The highway digital sign area is limited up to 400 square feet facing in opposite directions. The
height of the highway digital sign is limited to 30-ft; however, architectural details and a single static sign identify-
ing the activity center may be placed up to 40-ft. All height measurements shall be taken from the nearest grade of
the adjacent limited access roadway.
3. Location. The placements of highway digital signs shall be setback a minimum of 150-ft from the nearest outside
curb of the adjacent limited access roadway of the general travel lanes of the roadway (or the logical continuation
of these line), and not the off-ramps.
4. Setbacks. Highway digital signs shall be setback a minimum of 400-ft from residentially zoned properties. Each
highway digital sign shall be separate a minimum distance of one-half mile from any other highway digital sign.
5. Operations. The operation rules of Section 64.277 (3) shall apply for light, change of message and other functions.
Highway digital signs shall have color rendition capabilities and a minimum resolution of 72 dots per square inch.
6. Number of Elements. The highway digital sign shall be limited to display three elements at any given time, and
shall be limited to a single message. For instance, only one commercial static message. However, each display is
limited to three elements (the name of the store or event, address/location, the date/time, photo/graphic, tagline, etc.
shall each be considered one element) in order to reduce the perception of sign clutter on the copy of the highway
digital sign.
7. On-Site Messages Only. The highway digital signs are limited to wayfinding messages towards on-site destina-
tions within each subdistrict.
{Continued on next page…}
LDC2015-00306—Highway Dig ita l S ign Distr ic t Page 3
8. Architectural Enhancement. The highway digital signs shall match a unified master sign program developed for
each subdistrict/activity center. To ensure this standard is met, the following shall apply:
A. Appearance Review. A formal appearance review process is required for each highway digital sign
prior to permitting, approved by the Planning Official, to document approval of the appearance and
location of the sign in compliance with this section.
B. Architectural Treatment. The design of the highway digital sign shall incorporate the architectural
details of principal buildings of primary importance within each subdistrict, or a consistent architec-
tural theme. The overall design of the sign shall incorporate three dimensional architectural elements
into the design.
C. Materials. The signs shall incorporate consistent durable materials and details to create a base, mid-
dle and top or a unique design aesthetic that is specifically incorporated into the subdistrict.
D. Lighting. Any lighting shall emphasize or highlight the architectural details of the sign. Cabinet,
backlit or similar types of sign treatments are prohibited. All lighting fixtures shall meet the City’s
lighting ordinance (full cut-off) and not spill above the sign.
E. Monument sign. The digital highway sign shall be a monument sign or ground mounted sign. If the
sign is two sided, the sides of each sign shall face in opposite directions. Pole signs are not allowed.
Description of the Request:
Amend the Chapter 64 of the Land Development
Code (the “Sign Code), adding Section 64.401,
to create special sign districts for certain activity
centers along limited access roadways. Allows
architecturally enhanced monument signs con-
taining a digital sign up to 400 square feet in size
under certain circumstances; subject to opera-
tion, resolution, setback, and other performance
standards.
S U M M A RY
Owner
N/A
Applicant
City of Orlando
Project Planner
Jason Burton, AICP
Staff Report to the
Municipal Planning Board
August 18 , 2015
H I G H WAY D I G I TA L S IG N S
LA N D DE VE L O M P EN T CO D E AM EN D M E NT
L D C 2 0 1 5 - 0 0 3 0 6
I T E M # 1 0
Staff’s Recommendation:
Approval of the request.
Public Comment
Staff posted this item on the City’s website, and
place a classified ad in the Orlando Sentinel. No
public comments have been received as of the
date of the Staff Report.
Updated: August 12, 2015
Overview.
Staff is proposing new special sign districts in certain activity centers and urban villages controlled by a master developer, which
allow for digital signs along limited access roadways (freeways and expressways). These activity centers are located off of these
roadways and are accessed via adjacent interchanges. Such signs would display on-site messages related to the activity centers them-
selves (such as retail shops in the adjacent area and special events), because the unique focus in these activity centers create their
own town centers and pedestrian areas. Rather than have a series of on-site signs along the side of these roadways, it is proposed that
these signs be consolidated into a single sign near each interchange adjacent to the activity center. Each sign and its associated struc-
ture would need to be architecturally enhanced.
Current Digital Sign Philosophy.
While the City currently has a ban on digital message centers, the City has been amenable to different sign technologies on a limited
basis when they consolidate signs and reduce overall sign clutter. For instance, the City has a digital billboard exchange program
where off-site signs are traded and removed, in order to gain a digital billboard on the City’s limited access roadways. The City has
also allowed electronic signs in the Downtown Special Sign District, which include special on and off-site signage rights on digital
screens for major projects in order to add to the vibrant entertainment district that Downtown has become. In Downtown particu-
larly, these signs include full motion video due to the pedestrian nature of Downtown, and its desire of maintaining its status as the
entertainment and cultural capital of Central Florida.
Eligible Activity Centers. City staff is proposing three potential Special Sign Districts, outside of the Traditional City, where these
signs would be eligible for installation: Universal Studios, Lake Nona Town Center, and Millenia Mall (maps attached).
Universal Studios is an activity center that contains two theme parks, a nightlife-entertainment district and a water park under con-
struction. Its position in the City of Orlando is unique, as the other theme parks in the area are located outside typical local jurisdic-
tions, with Disney World having its own municipality—the Reedy Creek Improvement District. These areas have benefitted from
creating their own signage regulations, or working within the County’s code to take advantage of signage rights. Many times, this
has resulted in digital signs that advertise certain shopping and special event opportunities for those resorts. The Universal Studios
area is accessed by two different interchanges at Kirkman and Universal Boulevards. The project pre-dates the Development of Re-
gional Impact (DRI) process, having a binding letter from the State of Florida that grants rights to the master developer in lieu of a
A N A LY S I S
LDC2015-00306—Highway Dig ita l S ign Distr ic t Page 2
Lake Nona Town Center is an emerging town center that will grow around the multiple life science, hospital and educational institu-
tions that call the area home. There are three interchanges that access the area around Lake Nona and lead to the distinct environs of
the Lake Nona Town Center, Medical City and Education Village. The master developer is Tavistock Group, which is now building
the Town Center area between the Nemours Campus and the Burnham Institute.
Millenia Mall is the premiere shopping destination of Central Florida. Tax increment financing was utilized to fund the interchange
improvement for Conroy Road with Interstate 4, which led to the explosion of retail development of the mall and its surroundings.
Major retailers, such as Ikea, are located in the DRI, but do not have visibility from the Interstate. Additionally, there are several
office buildings in the area that support this urban activity center. Similar signage has been approved at the Fashion Square Mall as
part of their last DRI amendment—which is currently undergoing redevelopment to add hotel, commercial and residential uses.
Architecturally Enhanced Sign Requirement.
Staff believes that these types of signs should not appear as billboards or regular signage, but as part of a master sign program that
creates an architectural theme for these signs that matches the motifs and details of the architecture in each activity center. Thus,
such signs must be monument signs, up to 30-ft in height, with architectural details that are allowed up to 40-ft in height, as meas-
ured from the adjacent limited access roadway. Millenia is a good example of a signage system that incorporates a consistent archi-
tectural treatment that unifies the signage of the area and reduces overall sign clutter, while providing a theme that matches the sur-
rounding architecture. The new signs proposed for these eligible locations shall undergo an appearance review to ensure architec-
tural harmony with this concept.
Location of Signs.
Restrictions on the placement of these signs are intended to limit their placement so they do not conflict with each other and do not
impact residential areas. Only one sign is allowed per interchange (the eligible interchanges are described above), yet these signs are
not required to be placed directly at the interchange. These signs will also be required to be on private property, and set back a mini-
mum of 150-ft from the outside curb of the adjacent limited access roadway in order to allow for consistent setbacks with the City’s
billboard requirements. Further, a distance separation of 0.5-miles is required between signs, to lessen their visual impact and pre-
vent sign clutter. Similar to existing electronic billboard exchange requirements, a 400-ft separation will be placed between these
signs and residentially zoned districts as a requirement.
Size of Sign Area, Operation Rules.
The proposed digital highway sign is limited to 400-square feet in area, with signs facing in opposite directions. The operational
rules of digital signs (which require light dimming and limits changes in messages to no greater than every 8 seconds without mo-
tion) found in Chapter 64.277(3) shall apply. This creates a level of consistency and reduces potential impacts of light spill and dis-
tractions to drivers. Additionally, it is proposed that each message displayed on the sign is limited to a single advertisement of an on
-site commercial or institutional use within the special sign district to reduce the perception of sign clutter (e.g. Ikea and Macy’s
could not be displayed concurrently); special events are also allowed. This allows for the sign to serve as a wayfinding function to-
wards these destinations. However, these signs are proposed to restrict product and service messages, which do not have a wayfind-
ing function but are strictly advertisements. When other information is displayed for the allowed messages, it is limited to three ele-
ments (name of event, location, date/time for a special event— or a photo, brand, tagline or other text considered as an individual
element) in order to limit clutter and to convey the message (see the examples on the following pages). Color capabilities and a
minimum artwork resolution of 72 dpi (dots per square inch) or greater is required in order for the technology to be adequate enough
to not have an aesthetic impact.
On-Site Message Limitation and Number of Elements.
Signs are limited to on-site messages that advertise commercial and institutional uses of each adjacent activity center. Residential
subdivisions surrounding the activity center are not intended to be advertised and will not be considered on-site advertising. A pro-
posed special sign district map is attached to show the locations of the proposed special sign districts. Products and services are not
eligible to be advertised on these signs, as these signs are intended to support commercial wayfinding messages of the adjacent activ-
ity center.
A draft code amendment is attached, subject to final review and approval by the City Attorney’s Office.
FINDINGS In review of the proposed LDC amendment, it is found that:
1. The proposed Land Development Code amendment is consistent with the State Comprehensive Plan (Chapter 187, Florida Stat-
utes).
2. The proposed Land Development Code amendment is consistent with the East Central Florida Strategic Regional Policy Plan.
3. The proposed Land Development Code amendment is consistent with the provisions of Chapter 163, Part II, Florida Statutes.
4. The proposed Land Development Code amendment is consistent with the objectives and policies of the City’s adopted Growth
Management Plan (GMP).
LDC2015-00306—Highway Dig ita l S ign Distr ic t Page 3
DRAFT ORDINANCE LANGUAGE:
PART 8. SPECIAL SIGN DISTRICTS
****
Sec. 64.401. Highway Digital Sign District
(a) District and subdistricts established. There is hereby established a “Highway Digital Sign District”, with three subdis-
tricts to be known as the “Universal Studios Subdistrict”, the “Lake Nona Subdistrict” and the “Millenia Subdistrict”. The
boundaries of the district and each of the subdistrict are depicted in Figures 64.401-1, 64.401-2 and 64.401-3. All district and
subdistrict boundaries follow the centerline of the public rights-of-way show in these figures. Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of the City’s Land Development Code to the contrary, within the Highway Digital Sign District, and its subdistricts, the
following sign regulations of this section apply. Unless otherwise provided in this section, and then only to the extent necessary
to implement the provision of this section, all other ordinances of the City remain effective and applicable to signs within the
Highway Digital Sign District, and its subdistricts.
{Editors Note: INSERT MAPS OF THREE SUBDISTRICTS HERE}
(b) Purpose and intent. The regulations of this section are intended to allow digital signs along limited access right-of-
ways for activity centers that are Development of Regional Impacts (or its equivalent), which allow for on-site identification
opportunities that function as wayfinding to destinations within the subdistrict from the adjacent limited access roadway, con-
trolled by a master developer.
(c) Highway Digital Sign requirements. The following design and function requirements apply to potential digital signs
along limited access roadways:
1. Number of Signs. Each eligible activity center shall be allowed one highway digital sign for each interchange that
is adjacent to the activity center:
A. Universal Studios. Two signs (Kirkman Road, and Universal Blvd/Adventure Way interchanges)
B. Lake Nona. Three signs (Boggy Creek Road, Lake Nona Blvd and Narcossee Road interchanges).
C. Millenia. One sign (Millenia Blvd interchange).
2. Size and Height. The highway digital sign area is limited up to 400 square feet facing in opposite directions. The
height of the highway digital sign is limited to 30-ft; however, architectural details and a single static sign identify-
ing the activity center may be placed up to 40-ft. All height measurements shall be taken from the nearest grade of
the adjacent limited access roadway.
3. Location. The placements of highway digital signs shall be setback a minimum of 150-ft from the nearest outside
curb of the adjacent limited access roadway of the general travel lanes of the roadway (or the logical continuation
of these line), and not the off-ramps.
4. Setbacks. Highway digital signs shall be setback a minimum of 400-ft from residentially zoned properties. Each
highway digital sign shall be separate a minimum distance of one-half mile from any other highway digital sign.
5. Operations. The operation rules of Section 64.277 (3) shall apply for light, change of message and other functions.
Highway digital signs shall have color rendition capabilities and a minimum resolution of 72 dots per square inch.
6. Number of Elements. The highway digital sign shall be limited to display three elements at any given time, and
shall be limited to a single message. For instance, only one commercial static message. However, each display is
limited to three elements (the name of the store or event, address/location, the date/time, photo/graphic, tagline, etc.
shall each be considered one element) in order to reduce the perception of sign clutter on the copy of the highway
digital sign.
7. On-Site Messages Only. The highway digital signs are limited to wayfinding messages towards on-site destina-
tions within each subdistrict.
{Continued on next page…}
LDC2015-00306—Highway Dig ita l S ign Distr ic t Page 4
8. Architectural Enhancement. The highway digital signs shall match a unified master sign program developed for
each subdistrict/activity center. To ensure this standard is met, the following shall apply:
A. Appearance Review. A formal appearance review process is required for each highway digital sign
prior to permitting, approved by the Planning Official, to document approval of the appearance and
location of the sign in compliance with this section.
B. Architectural Treatment. The design of the highway digital sign shall incorporate the architectural
details of principal buildings of primary importance within each subdistrict, or a consistent architec-
tural theme. The overall design of the sign shall incorporate three dimensional architectural elements
into the design.
C. Materials. The signs shall incorporate consistent durable materials and details to create a base, mid-
dle and top or a unique design aesthetic that is specifically incorporated into the subdistrict.
D. Lighting. Any lighting shall emphasize or highlight the architectural details of the sign. Cabinet,
backlit or similar types of sign treatments are prohibited. All lighting fixtures shall meet the City’s
lighting ordinance (full cut-off) and not spill above the sign.
E. Monument sign. The digital highway sign shall be a monument sign or ground mounted sign. If the
sign is two sided, the sides of each sign shall face in opposite directions. Pole signs are not allowed.
Example of limited elements. The top sign shows multiple
elements (a total of 7, including the name of the business,
the hours of operation, a phone number, website, tagline,
address and photo), where the bottom example is limited to
three elements (the name of the business, a photo and a
tagline).
Example of limited elements. This sign for a special event
limits the element to three, with the name of the church,
name of the event, and the date.
Examples of Limited
Elements in a Digital Sign Concept of a Highway
Digital Sign
Conceptual. The Highway Digital Sign could be an archi-
tecturally enhanced monument sign of up to 40-ft in
height, where the actual digital sign is up to 30-ft in height.
Each one would need to be uniquely designed for each
eligible activity center.
LDC2015-00306—Highway Dig ita l S ign Distr ic t Page 5
LDC2015-00306—Highway Dig ita l S ign Distr ic t Page 6
LDC2015-00306—Highway Dig ita l S ign Distr ic t Page 7
