Council approves changes to city’s 30-year-old sign code

by Melissa Martin

Sept. 21 regular city council meeting

Following more than a year of discussions, Brecksville City Council voted in favor of several amendments to the city’s sign code with the changes to take effect prior to the November general election.

Though council initially considered postponing its vote to allow for three full readings on the floor, members elected to move forward at the advice of Law Director David Matty.

“These changes have been vetted publicly for at least six months now,” Matty told council, noting that if the legislation was not passed by emergency, it would not have taken effect until the end of October with the Nov. 2 election just two days later. “If someone wanted to come forward, they had every opportunity to do that. … This is not something that has been rushed through.”

Brecksville’s law department has been working on changes to the ordinance since late last year after several issues, particularly regarding political signs, surfaced prior to and during the 2020 presidential election.

“During the last election cycle, people were using the first amendment in ways that have been uncommon for the city of Brecksville in the past,” Assistant Law Director Sergio DiGeronimo said. “Unfortunately, there was little that could be done about it at the time because of the way our [sign] ordinance was worded.”

The city’s original sign code had been in place for more than 30 years and was created at a time when political signs were rarely displayed in the community. Now, signs from the last presidential race remain a sore spot with some community members nearly a year after last year’s election, according to Mayor Jerry Hruby.

“There are Biden and Trump signs still posted in town and we have residents questioning all the time why people are allowed to do that,” Hruby told the city’s planning commission May 20. “The truth is they have every right to display them for as long as they want.”

The new sign code amendments do, however, prohibit temporary signs, including election campaign signs, from being placed on city-owned property. They also address signs posted on private property. Though the city cannot regulate sign content or how long signs are posted, as Hruby said, it can regulate other aspects of signs on private property, such as size, placement and quantity.

Additionally, temporary signs are now prohibited from being illuminated and larger than 10 square feet. Likewise, if multiple signs are posted on private property, they have to be separated by at least 2 feet and be located at least 10 feet from the public right of way and 15 feet from neighboring side yards.

Police equipment purchases

At the request of the city’s Police Chief Stan Korinek, council approved the purchase of more than $14,000 worth of rifle armor plates for police officers.

Korinek said the plates are worn inside soft body armor to prevent rounds from sniper and hunting rifles from harming officers.

“Research shows that in the United States over the past 12 years, an average of 10 officers per year die as a result of rifle fire,” Korinek said. “When it comes to active shooter situations over the past 20 years, Ohio ranks fifth in the nation. … We’ve had 18 [incidents].”

Korinek said the city has received a $10,542 grant from the state to purchase the armor plates, which means the city will pay just $3,514 after reimbursement.

Council also approved the purchase of $19,733 in ammunition, consisting of 0.223 and 5.56 rifle rounds, as well as 9mm rounds, that will be used in officer training exercises. Korinek noted the department has yet to receive the rifle ammunition it purchased in 2020, which has made it difficult for the department to conduct regular training drills.

“We have a pretty robust [training] program and we want to keep it that way,” Korinek said, noting that a large increase in ammunition prices is being forecast for the spring, which is another reason the department elected to make the purchase sooner than later. “We feel the better our officers are trained, the better they are going to perform.”

Council also approved the purchase of cartridge tasers and training cartridges that will be used to recertify police officers for taser deployment.

In other news, council:

• Allocated $19,093 for the purchase and replacement of 114 fall trees. Service Director Ron Weidig said the city tries to plant 100 trees every spring and an additional 100 every fall at various locations throughout the city. Many of this fall’s trees will be planted in the Deer Run, Echo Hills and Woodview subdivisions, with several others being planted outside the police station and along the state Route 82 median.

• Authorized the mayor to enter in a release with roofing manufacturer CertainTeed to repair the fire station roof. After ice dams caused the premature failure of the roof, the city installed a specially designed venting system to prevent future issues. Upon review, however, the city discovered the contractor that installed the system placed a layer of roofing materials over the venting when ice guard should have been installed instead. The contractor will pay for the repairs.

• Approved the purchase of $19,955 in replacement equipment for the city’s fitness center. The city will use funds generated by the sale of corporate fitness center memberships to pay for the purchase. ∞