Representatives from Westlake United Methodist Church came before council asking for a sign variance to replace the one that had recently been damaged in a car accident.

Since the aging sign had been damaged beyond repair, the church needed a variance to rebuild the two-paneled wood sign, asking for each panel to be about 26-square-feet.

“The two signs that are there exceed the variance for the square footage,” said church representative Tom Stratton. “We want to rebuild in the same footprint.”

Council members voiced concerns over the lighting of the sign, which Stratton asked them to allow until 10 p.m. Because the church, located at 1460 Red Bud Trail, is in a more residential area, they asked that the lighting hours be restricted and that the wattage be minimal.

Councilwoman Cindy Probst made a motion to allow the variance request, but restrict each panel to 24-square-feet and include low-wattage lighting to be turned off at 9 p.m. each night. The motion also requested the removal of a safety light and pole near the entrance. Council members voted for the measure unanimously with Stan Graham and Andrew Schwartz in absentia.

The council later voted to impose a new measure that would prevent any resident from obtaining a building permit while they have outstanding code violations with the city. The discussion, prompted by Probst, drew support from both the council and mayor.

“This ordinance attempts, in part, to bring the property into compliance, whether the current property owner was involved or not,” City Attorney Alan Bojorquez said of the initial draft.

Council members all agreed that they’d like to see the measure only impact property owners who were involved in a violation, not those who happened to buy a home with outstanding issues. With that detail changed, council members voted for it unanimously.

In other action, WLH Police Chief Cliff Spratlan delivered a report of 2009 incidents that included 3,206 citations, 777 warnings, 47 arrests and 34 incidences of impounded property. He also delivered a state-mandated report about racial profiling statistics in the city, which showed no abnormalities in ratios of warning to citations for any particular race.