Sign ordinance reform

The Downtown Alliance president argued that restrictive signage rules make downtown look dead, deter visitors and investment, and that peer cities that liberalized their codes saw real growth.

The Chamber's government affairs VP described members facing dozens of separate permit applications for window decals, unpredictable approvals, and businesses concluding signage simply isn't worth it in Saint Paul.

The Business Review Council chair and MACI Company CEO presented findings from the city's cultural destination area study showing signage and wayfinding barriers across all corridors, not just downtown.

The DSI director detailed the code's scale — 40 pages, 17 sign districts, 250 permits a year — and suggested plain-language simplification and allowing common signs by right.

The PED zoning staff laid out the fix: a comprehensive zoning study consolidating the 17 districts, simplifying standards, and allowing more signs by right — with a resolution next month and changes by fall.