Montgomery County officials backed off Thursday on a proposal to significantly increase fees for sign permits—already some of the highest in the region—after a local sign-making business protested earlier this week.
Diane Schwartz-Jones, director of the county’s Department of Permitting Services, said Thursday the department is planning to reduce its proposed flat fee from $490 to $300. She said the department decided to make the change after talking with local small business owners Wednesday.
“We’re sensitive to what their concerns are,” Schwartz-Jones said. “For that type of business, it’s a more modest increase.”
In a resolution submitted to the County Council in September, the department proposed to increase the fee for erecting a permanent sign from $255 for a business located outside a planned county district or $410 for businesses in those districts to a flat fee of $490.
The proposed $490 fee would be significantly higher than those charged by neighboring jurisdictions. Prince George’s County charges $55 for a sign permit; fees charged by Howard County, which range between $50 to $200, and those charged by Washington, D.C., which range between $65 to $130, are based on the size of the proposed signs, according to the online permit fee schedules for the jurisdictions.
At a council public hearing Tuesday, Schwartz-Jones said the permit fees are used to support the permitting services department’s budget. The department operates as an enterprise fund, meaning it’s designed to fund itself with the fees. She said the department’s request to raise the permit fees resulted from a comprehensive analysis of how much staff time it took to process permit applications.
“If these fees are not adjusted,” Schwartz-Jones told the council, “revenue will not be adequate to cover the cost of these services.”
The department is also proposing a significant increase in fees charged for sign concept plans, which allow developers to submit guidelines for signs posted in large shopping centers, such as Pike & Rose in North Bethesda. Under the resolution, those fees would increase from fees that range from $435 to $695 to a flat fee of $1,295.
Schwartz-Jones said in a phone interview with Bethesda Beat Thursday that the permitting departments in Prince George’s County and the District are funded by tax dollars and therefore don’t depend on permit fees. She said Montgomery County has not increased its fees for sign permits since 2008 and that it takes staff about three hours on average to approve a sign permit.
Stacey Brown, owner of sign-making business Signarama in Silver Spring, testified against the department’s proposed fee increase during Tuesday’s council hearing.
“Current fees are way out of line compared to neighboring communities,” Brown told the council. “These new fees will exacerbate that even further, making it extremely unaffordable for small businesses. Large businesses will not be happy, but they can better absorb these costs. Small businesses will either not get a permanent sign or they’ll put up their sign illegally.”
She added that adhering to specific county regulations regarding signs has cost her business as well, because customers abandon plans to put up a sign or do so illegally after learning about the costs and length of time required to get approval to erect a sign.
Brown said Thursday even the proposed $300 flat fee is expensive.
“It still warrants something to look at,” Brown said. “You don’t want to be so noncompetitive. You want to look at things that make it easier for a business to come and stay here.”
Brown also said that it typically took about four to six weeks to obtain a sign permit from the county, while she’s found that other jurisdictions approve applications in one day or at least in less than a week.
Schwartz-Jones said Thursday the department is making changes to speed up the approval process and hopes to be able to approve sign permits within one week and eventually to approve applications the same day they are received.
Brown said she believes more businesses would be willing to apply for permits instead of posting signs illegally if the approval process was more efficient.
“The process needs to be electronic, like now,” Brown said. “That should have been one of the first things they did. It should be faster.”
A county council committee is scheduled to review the permit fee resolution Monday.
