Bessemer to prohibit signs on public property

By CHARITY SMITH

csmith@yourdailyglobe.com

Bessemer — The city of Bessemer is looking to prohibit signage from being placed on public property that is not from a pubic institution.

City manager Charly Loper said that it was discovered at the last election that the city did not have an ordinance specifically banning people from placing signs on city property. The city will hold a public hearing during the next planning commission meeting on March 1. After the hearing, the commission can recommend that the city council adopt the ordinance. The council could then have a first reading of it, another public hearing, and then a final reading of it before it’s adoption. If adopted, the ordinance would be effective 15 days thereafter.

The planning commission made some “minor adjustments” to the Right to Farm ordinance during its meeting on Feb. 1. The city will not be regulating honeybees in areas that are zoned as industrial or country estates, which are areas that are further away from the city center. However they will be “heavily restricting” them in all other areas. Loper said the number of hives a resident can have will be based on things such as property size and the distance they are away from the city center.

“It’s basically a way to allow them without having them interfere with the neighbors,” Loper said.

The commission will also hold a public hearing on the Right to Farm Act on March 1.

The board also had a brief discussion on short-term rentals.

“We are trying to figure out how to cover the costs of regulating short-term rentals without it coming from taxpayers who aren’t involved in the short-term rentals,” said Loper.

She said the city will ask its attorney before proceeding further with the issue.

The commission also:

—Adopted the guide to development.

—Adopted its 2022 meeting schedule.