CR 91-167 BillboardsL T
July 31, 1991
Council Report 91 -167
BILLBOARDS
Proposed Action
Staff recommends the following motion: Move to have the
Zoning and Planning Commission review amending the Zoning
Ordinance to allow billboards at various locations for
community events and general community promotions
Approval of this motion will refer this item to the Zoning
and Planning Commission for further study and
recommendations.
overview
Representatives from the Twin West Chamber of Commerce,
Hopkins Business Council, Hopkins Community Promotions, and
Mainstreet Steering Committee have requested that the City
Council consider amending the Zoning Ordinance to allow
permanent billboards on the major thoroughfares (such as
County Road 3)' -to advertise community events and general
community promotions. The existing Zoning Ordinance does
not allow billboards in these locations. The Zoning
Ordinance would have to be amended to allow billboards in
these locations.-
Primary Issues to Consider
o where are billboards allowed in Hopkins?
The existing ordinance allows billboards only in industrial
districts. Also, billboards are restricted in the ordinance
by spacing requirements from residential districts, other
billboards, and parks. The temporary billboard on County
Road 3 is allowed because it is a temporary structure and
only advertises community events.
o What is the next step?
If the City Council indicates that an amendment to the
Zoning Ordinance to allow billboards for community events
should be considered, it should be referred to the Zoning
and Planning Commission for study and recommendations. If
this item is referred to the Zoning and Planning Commission,
the item will be considered at the August meeting.
Supporting Documents
o Letter to Mayor and City Council
Q n - A
Nanc S. Anderson
Plan er
Dear Mayor Berg and Members of the City Council:
Over the past year there have been many collective efforts
involving the Chamber, the Business Council, HCP, Building
Owners, Businesses, Merchants, Residents as well as
yourselves and City Staff to systematically plan toward the
future success of Mainstreet Hopkins. Thousands of hours of
volunteer time as well as thousands of dollars of
contributions have made this all possible. Collectively we
feel many of the steps have been put in place to assure
progress up our ladder to success.
Currently, everyone is optimistic that we can maintain and
even increase business during the Mainstreet improvement
project. The Mainstreet Steering Committee has designated an
action plan which will provide our framework to success
through this difficult time. Increased communication,
increased marketing efforts, and increased involvement are
all elements of this effort.
Through the planning process it has become painfully apparent
the Downtown Mainstreet is surrounded by major thoroughfares;
Highway 7 to the North, 169 to the East, Shady Oak and /or 494_
to the West, and County Road 3 to the South. Segments of
each of these roadways pass through and /or border on Hopkins.
We feel we are missing a valuable opportunity to better
communicate with the hundreds of thousands of cars passing on
these routes daily.
We feel strongly that we need to re- examine both short term
and long term opportunities to keep our Mainstreet
competitive with surrounding shopping centers and malls. A
very accessible way for us to communicate with this captive
audience is billboards. We realize there are many people
that look at billboards as ugly and distasteful. There are
also many who feel billboards have a value and use if done
properly and border urban and /or commercial areas. To many
people, billboards are far less offensive than much of what
we see on TV, hear on the radio, see in the newspapers, and
get bombarded with through telemarketing.
As an active business community in a competitive environment,
we would like to propose and discuss with the Council that
our current ordinances be re- evaluated to allow for community
billboards on these major routes. If we cannot cover them
all, lets at least cover what we can. These billboards would
be for community events and general community promotion only.
Once in place, these billboards would give us a tasteful,
•
inexpensive and visible communication and marketing tool. if
used properly, we can safely say few won't realize what's
going on in Hopkins and /or will not be aware of special
promotions, etc.
Hopkins is unique. It is home of the only Mainstreet in the
Twin Cities. It's time we recognize we are unique and that's
just because other suburbs want to ordain one way, it may not
be appropriate for us to do the same. We believe Hopkins
needs to pioneer new ways to assure the vitality and success
of its Downtown Mainstreet Business Community. -Let's start
by re- examining this important marketing tool and figure out
pro- active ways to accomplish our goals rather than just
settle back in the all to easy and popular mode of "we can't
becaus .. ".
Twin Wes Chamber of Commerce- Hopkins Business Council
Hopkins mmunity Promotions Ma nstreet St Bring Committee