Medina bans electronic signs
File photo – The Village of Medina won’t allow electronic signs like this one at Medina Central School on Maple Ridge Road. The school district isn’t subject to the village’s zoning laws.
MEDINA – The Village of Medina passed a law this evening that bans electronic signs, those featuring animation, flashing, scrolling or spinning messages.
The Village Planning Board recommended the new law, saying it wanted to preserve the character, heritage and history of the community. That emphasis on historical preservation has driven the current “renaissance” in the downtown business district, Planning Board Chairman Chris Busch wrote to the Village Board.
Busch said the Planning Board strives for sign designs that inform but don’t overwhelm people. Digital signs can pose a safety concern because they tend to hold a drivers’ attention for an extended period of time, he said.
Busch said the Planning Board was united in the push to ban the electronic signs. Tim Elliott, a member of the Planning Board, attended tonight’s Village Board meeting.
“In the village you’re coming into a historic area and we don’t want them in,” he said about the signs.
The school district has an electronic sign. That sign was put in before the new law was passed. The school district also isn’t subject to village zoning regulations.
