CANFIELD — New signage laws are in effect in Canfield after council members passed legislation last week.

Researching window signage last year, Wade Calhoun, city manager, said other communities were looked at for comparison as well as for ideas. The new resolution states “signs placed within four feet of a window, or directly on the window and visible to the outside shall not cover more than 30 percent of the window space between 4 feet and 7 feet” and should not block views of any cashiers.

For example, if someone has a 100-square foot window, they are permitted 30 square feet of signage, Calhoun said. If it is all letters, only 75 percent of the square footage of that letter counts toward the overall square footage.

If law enforcement responds to a store for a call, they may not be able to see inside the windows if there is too much clutter with advertisements, Calhoun said.

From “an aesthetic standpoint,” he said the measure is also about keeping windows for businesses looking a little more uniform.

A second piece of legislation, also dealing with signs, was in regard to vehicle signage.

The language states that signs mounted, painted or affixed to a vehicle that is parked on private property and is used for attracting the public’s attention to a “use, business, event, product on the same property or service” are prohibited.

“We started to see an emerging trend in the city to where people were getting creative with signs,” Calhoun said.

“We didn’t want to restrict a vehicle that was advertising a business driving through the city,” Calhoun said, adding that the new law is intended for vehicles “decorated” and acting as an advertisement for a business already on the property along the main corridor of Canfield on U.S. Route 224.

The city already doesn’t allow off-site signs, but businesses have started to use vehicles in various ways with branding, parking as close to the street as possible.

“From an aesthetic standpoint, the last thing you want to do is have your main corridor littered with cars parked advertising any number of business,” Calhoun said.

Vehicles wrapped in or containing advertisements passing through the city or at a construction site are not included, Calhoun said.

Both pieces of legislation have gone through the planning and zoning commission, Calhoun said, and city council members also have worked continuously on the wording, adding clarification along the way.

Also discussed at the meeting was an exclusive agreement with Culligan Water of Youngstown.

Calhoun explained that if, in the event of an emergency and the city is without water, Canfield has exclusive first rights to cases of water for its residents.

afox@tribtoday.com