The York County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday to establish a set of brightness standards for newly installed outdoor electronic business signs.
Though some standards already existed in the ordinance, a couple of signs in the county have proven to be too bright, according to a memorandum from York County Administrator Neil Morgan.
The new standards establish a limit for future installations, however the existing signs will be allowed to remain in place.
New signs must include a sensor to automatically dim the lights at night. Brightness levels during the day and night must both fall within a range of 0.3 footcandles. A foot-candle is a measurement of light intensity measuring the brightness cast on an object one foot from the light source.
“We’ve had cooperation from some of these owners [of overly bright signs] to tone brightness down, but it would be better if there was a definitive standard to use,” Zoning Administrator Mark Carter said.
The board did not discuss the changes before voting 4-0 to put them into effect. Supervisor Walt Zaremba (District One) was absent from the meeting.
The full text of the new ordinance along with specific technical details governing future electronic signs is available here.
Though current signs will be allowed to remain in place even if they do not meet the new standards, any changes to the hardware of those signs will require them to be brought up to code.
The new ordinance is the second change to electronic signs in the county in as many years. The board voted last year to open electronic signage to houses of worship.
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