Huge neon signs define Las Vegas, but most other cities run in the opposite direction. Bremerton’s sign code is, like others, designed to balance look and character with practical use.

Sign codes can seem steeped in minutia, focused as they are on precise dimensions, particular materials, exact location, and types of business. Bremerton current planner Laura Freed said the attention to detail is absolutely necessary.

“Everybody always wants a bigger sign or more colorful or in a different position,” Freed said. “Signs do shape people’s perception of an area and we want that perception to be positive.

“Our sign code is one of the more generous in Puget Sound.”

Bremerton city code says two square feet of sign is allowed per foot of building width for permanent building signs, to a maximum of 100 square feet or 10 percent of the total facade area. The City of Gig Harbor by contrast limits the size of wall-mounted signs to 50 square feet.

The Kitsap County Code limits individual signs to 90 square feet in non-incorporated areas, with total signage on a building not to exceed 200 square feet.

The size restrictions are different in Bremerton’s different zones, commercial, mixed use and residential for example.

“That reflects the expectations of residents and business owners,” said Patrick Conroy, Bremerton building development specialist. “It’s pretty easy to stay in compliance.”

One hindrance to business owners is that Bremerton’s comprehensive plan and the sign provision parts of it are not online.

Other signs

Temporary signs usually do not need a permit or a review. They do if they will stay for more than a week, are more than six foot tall or if they will be in the city right-of-way.

Examples of temporary signs include advertising signs such as sandwich boards and grand opening banners.

Changes in sign codes are only taken on as part of a general change in the city’s comprehensive plan and do not happen often. Freed said there has never been a huge rash of complaints with respect to the code. Occasionally, she said, someone who lives near a bright neon sign might “voice strong concerns.”

“Even at election time,” she said, “the problem of candidates’ signs generally takes care of itself. We haven’t got the manpower to clear them and there are more important things on our agenda.

(Editor’s Note: Temple A. Stark is a free-lance writer living in Port Orchard. Reach him at writer@harbornet.com.).