The La Canada Flintridge City Council has unanimously enacted a temporary prohibition on some new signs to give its Planning Commission time to draft a permanent ordinance.
The council voted Tuesday to prohibit construction of new off-site signs and billboards and expansion of existing signs and billboards. An off-site sign is one that a business places on a location other than its commercial property.
The ordinance will be in effect for 45 days and may be extended for up to six months, said Bill Campbell, director of community development.
Campbell said the council's action was prompted by a request from Gannett Outdoor Advertising to expand two billboards on Foothill Boulevard, the city's main thoroughfare.
La Canada Flintridge has about seven billboards, Campbell said, and council members have voiced their concern that proliferation of such signs will destroy the rural nature of the community.
The council is expected to hold a public hearing after the initial 45-day moratorium to consider extending the ordinance, Campbell said.
