Effective immediately, to support restaurants and other businesses providing essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kirkland city manager Kurt Triplett has ordered the suspension of enforcement of the temporary sign code.

According to a press release, code enforcement officers will not enforce the use of temporary signs such as A-frames displayed by essential businesses for the term of the current COVID-19 emergency proclamation.

For purposes of this order, the following current rules will be maintained: Temporary signs must be six square feet per sign’s face or less and be easily removable (e.g., A-frame signs)

Temporary signs cannot: Be located in travel lanes, block sight distance at intersections or block pedestrian movement on sidewalks.

According to the release, the purpose of this order is for essential businesses to more effectively communicate with their customers their location, available services and how to get take-out and grab-and-go orders.

The city wants to avoid excessive sign clutter that could result in less effective messaging. If temporary sign rules are not followed, or if too many temporary signs are placed in business districts, code enforcement reserves the right to work with businesses to collaboratively reduce the size and number of temporary signs, the release states.

The city will continue to update its website with information on the COVID-19 outbreak.