Photo: City of Kelowna

An illuminated sign illegally placed by Don-O-Ray Farm must be turned off, but the council has left the door open for future lighting.

The property owners appeared before the council Monday to plead their case to keep the sign illuminated, saying they hired a company new to town that didn’t understand the statute against illuminated signs on agricultural property.

“We didn’t know the rules. “I apologize,” said the toll board owner.

City staff spoke out against the request to legitimize the sign, saying it would create a precedent in the community for electronic signs.

“The only place we allow electronic signs under the current sign statute is in institutional and educational facilities,” said development planning manager Dean Strachan.

“Specifically, in the past the council has restricted electronic signs to those uses and has not allowed them in commercial or other operations.

“This would set a precedent for allowing other signs or applications of other signs in the community, so staff have provided a strong recommendation on this one.

Strachan says other agricultural operations have shown interest in similar signage for their businesses, and if council says yes to this request, there will be pressure on those operators and business locations to approve their applications as well.

He added that while there have been no complaints from neighbors, there have been complaints from other businesses demanding to know why this is allowed.

Planning Director Ryan Smith added that the city has been turning away commercial properties that want these types of signs for years.

“Staff are very concerned, whether in an agricultural or commercial context, that more of this signage will begin to degrade the urban environment on our streets,” Smith said.

“One bright sign may not seem like a big deal, but I think it has the potential to turn into dozens of requests over the next few years, which is why the staff is here for this one in particular.”

The council sided with the staff recommendation 5-2, with councilors Mohini Singh and Ron Cannan supporting the farm. Council members Maxine DeHart and Charlie Hodge were absent.

However, at the request of Mayor Tom Dyas, the door was left open for a reconsideration in the spring.

“What we’ve said is let’s make the sign compliant, let’s turn off the electrical aspect of it,” Dyas said.

“They said they are pretty closed from December until the spring and in that time period I asked the staff to bring us the bylaw sign so we can review it and see if there is a possibility of allowing this to be adjusted at all. , perhaps along certain corridors.

“Are there support brokers, Benvoulin, KLO or some that are not so much within residential areas but have that type of business?”

Staff will resume the statute sometime in the coming months.

In the meantime, owners can keep the registry, but must deactivate it.