Banner Services for Community Events Procedure

Purpose statement

The banner services program is established to assist community organizations (non-profit & Business Improvement Area (BIA) Boards of Management) to recognize either a special day, week or month, or the value and importance of an event or organization that is significant to the Town of Oakville (Town). The erection and display of street light or cross-street banners at approved locations shall recognize community events and enhance public awareness in accordance with consistent regulations including applications, fees, community messages, installations and removals.

Scope

This procedure applies to all requests from community organizations for the erection and display of eligible banners on town arterial class roads as identified in the Town’s Transportation Master Plan. Separate approval is required for roads within Oakville that are under the jurisdiction of the Region of Halton.

Eligible banners shall include banners recognizing:

1. Charitable fundraising campaigns
2. Municipal or Regional public awareness campaigns
3. Town organized special events and festivals
4. Community events classified as community, signature or mega as defined in the Town’s Special Events User Guide
5. Any other events as authorized by Council

Banner content shall comply with Town policies and procedures.

Ineligible banners are defined as banners containing:

1. Any reference to political parties or political organizations
2. Any reference to religious organizations or the celebration of religious events
3. Anything contrary to town policies or by-laws
4. Anything defaming the integrity of the Town of Oakville

Procedure

1. Organizations interested in displaying a banner will make an application with the Town through the Road Corridor Permit Section of the Engineering & Construction department at Town Hall (Oakville Municipal Building, 1225 Trafalgar Road). Refer to Banner Application form in Appendix A.
2. A flat-rate service fee will apply to all applicants, for cross-street banners.
3. Street light pole banner fees shall be subject to the number of banners proposed and applicable to all applicants, with the exception of BIAs. BIAs will be responsible for all permit fees but will separately procure installation and removal services acceptable to the Town. Service fees will reflect the Town’s actual cost to process applications and to install/remove banners.  All fees will be in accordance with the Town’s Annual Rates and Fees Schedule. All fees are non-refundable.
4. Cross-street banners are erected between two utility poles at three pre-approved locations: Trafalgar Road (300m north of Freestone Lane), Lakeshore Road East at Gloucester Avenue, and Lakeshore Road West at West Street. Cross-street banner material and size must meet the standards established in Appendix B.
5. Street light pole banners sizes shall be as follows: no larger than: 0.6m width x 1.5m height. Banner size and mounting hardware and assemblies shall be subject to the approval of the Roads and Works Operations Department.
6. Street light pole banners proposed within any B.I.A. district require the written permission of the B.I.A. managing that area. The applicant organization is wholly responsible to obtain this pre-approval prior to submission of the banner application.
7. A banner that is also an event sign may recognize corporate sponsorship, which shall encompass not more than 15% of the banner area in accordance with the Sign By-law.
8. No electrical power shall be available for banners or any other proposed attachment without the approval of the Town of Oakville and Oakville Hydro.
9. Applicants will provide and deliver banners, including mounting hardware if applicable, to the Traffic Operations Division of the Roads & Works Operations department located at the Central Operations Facility (1140 South Service Road West). The Town of Oakville will not provide any alterations to the banner or mounting hardware whatsoever. Banners and hardware must comply with the permit conditions.
10. Cross-street banners may be displayed for a maximum 2-week period. Pole Banners may be displayed for a maximum 4-week period. An extension request may be considered by the Town subject to applicable permit/administrative fees. With the exception of the BIAs, no applications will be accepted more than three months in advance of the display period.
11. The Town reserves the right to erect two banners concurrently at any cross-street or street pole location.
12. The Town has the right to remove any damaged, torn, or deteriorated banners.
13. Where the Town removes a banner, the applicant is required to retrieve the banner from the town within 30 days. Any banners not retrieved from the town within the 30 days will be disposed of.

Responsibilities

Engineering & Construction Department:

• Processing and approvals of applications
• Depositing of fees
• Communications with applicants

Roads & Works Operations Department:

• Installation and removal of banners
• Upkeep of site hardware (poles, brackets, etc.)
• Regular visit/review of display banner

Definitions

Banner: for the purposes of this procedure and as defined in Sign By-law 2006-005, means a sign or advertising device made from cloth, or a similar lightweight material such as plastic.

Cross-street banners: means a light-weight open web banner with letters affixed to the web, suspended across a road right-of-way.

Pole Banners: means a banner suspended over public streets (which includes the sidewalk and roadway) and attached to a single street light pole.