(KNOX) -The Grand Forks Committee of the Whole received an explanation to city ordinance covering billboards. There are 103 billboards in the City of Grand Forks.
Ryan Brooks, Grand Forks Director of Planning and Community Development, said there is a cap of 112 billboards, but Brooks said that it can be boosted when the U.S. Census of Grand Forks increases in population.
“That increases under current rules every 10 years when the census come in. We allow an additional one billboard sign for every 566 people that the census increases our numbers,” Brooks said.
Brooks told the committee that the City of Grand Forks also has the authorization to regulate billboards outside of the city to a certain extent.
“Not only the city, but also a two-mile area around the city. That’s zoning jurisdiction we have,” Brooks said.
The Committee of the Whole also received the City of Grand Forks’ definition of a billboard.
“A billboard is the off-premises sign. So, we have on-premise and off-premise. Off-premise is really the billboards where they are advertising something that is not on that site,” Brooks explained to the committee.
Brooks said that an old rule continues to apply to some billboards in the city, while a new rule will apply to all future cases.
“The current regulations are the signs must be 500 feet apart. Many are closer than that, but those are grandfathered in. I’ll use the corner of Washington and Demers. There are many within 500 feet, but those are grandfathered in,” Brooks said.
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