Sign rules create challenges in Hutto

It's easy to see business is booming in Hutto. But, beneath the surface there's been a thorn in the side of business owners.

All the changes over the years to the 36-page document have created a mess of red tape.

"It's frustrating for businesses, and it's frustrating for staff because then you have ordinances superseding ordinances internally, and it creates problems," Lewis said.

So now the city is creating a unified development code, which will create districts for signage rules and give the city one uniform set of codes to go by.

"The community doesn't want sign clutter where the business owners want larger signs, so it's just a real balance and the only way to get it right is to work together," Lewis said.

The city will be holding a series of public hearings to get citizen feedback before a unified development code is finalized.

"The past two years has been pretty painful as a business owner," Dragonfly Floral and Gifts Owner Cindy Allen-Lott said.

Allen-Lott said because of the city's convoluted sign ordinance, she's struggled to advertise her business.

"People don't usually walk into Dragonfly and say, 'Oh I need flowers,'" she said. "They call me. And the way they call me is the phone number on the sign."

Previously, phone numbers and Web addresses weren't allowed on signs in certain parts of town, but the city recently amended that rule.

They also approved sandwich board-type signs out on the sidewalks.

"At some point, when the city is big enough and there's so much new stuff going on, it's hard to tell one person no you can't do that when someone else is already doing it somewhere," commercial property owner Josh Richards said.

Hutto Community Development Director Matthew Lewis agreed.

"The sign ordinance, it's really piecemealed," he said. "Portions were changed in 2003 and again in 2004."