LINCOLN - The Lincoln City Council may vote next week on stricter regulations for billboards designed to prevent them from becoming hazards or eyesores.

Work on a companion ordinance for signs continues.

The city council's ordinance committee has prepared a new billboard ordinance that will give zoning enforcement officer Les Last more authority to enforce a stricter set of codes.

While the billboard ordinance is ready, committee member Wanda Rohlfs and Last are addressing the wording for the signs ordinance.

The committee has been combing through sign and billboard ordinances since March.

"The billboard ordinance is quite lengthy, and it took us several months to iron out the language that we needed," Rohlfs said. "But actually, the signs ordinance is much longer. We will be able to determine some commonalities and that will help speed up the process somewhat."

Originally, the council anticipated voting on the billboard and sign ordinances at the same time, but city attorney William Bates suggested voting on the billboard ordinance to avoid further delays.

"Without the new ordinance in effect, the city is at risk for people putting up billboards anywhere they want," Bates told the ordinance committee earlier this month.

Billboards would be classified as signs in excess of 100 square feet, but they would not be allowed to be larger than 1,200 square feet.

All billboards would fall under a set of rules regulating appearance, maintenance and repairs.

Once the new ordinance is in effect, any billboard not in compliance will have to be brought up to code or taken down within 30 days.

Anything less than 100 square feet would be considered to be a sign.

"I believe we have several billboards in town that will have to be changed if the new ordinance on billboards is approved," Bates said. "If a similar set of codes is passed for the signs, I don't believe there are too many of those that would be considered to be not in code."

Rohlfs said she has been frustrated that it took so long to write the ordinances. However, much of the work she did on her own with the help of Last and Bates.

"Several people who knew a lot more about this than I did had vacations and were dealing with other situations over the course of the time we have been working on this," she said.

kbarlow@pantagraph.com