When Island Lumber put up its large LED display sign in late 2009, members of Vashon’s Town Plan Committee took notice.

The committee had recently been tasked by the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council (VMICC) to update Vashon’s 1996 Town Plan, a set of King County codes that regulate land use, construction and utilities in Vashon Town and are meant to help preserve Vashon’s rural feel.

The erection of Island Lumber’s new sign convinced the committee that signs contribute to the town’s feel, and the updated plan — this time called the Town of Vashon Plan — should include signage regulations.

“It made us realize that King County sign regulations aren’t suited to the Island,” said Natalie Sheard, a member of the committee.

“We were already discussing (signage), but this brought it to a head,” she said, adding that signs such as Island Lumber’s aren’t even allowed in some parts of Seattle.

The committee’s proposed signage portion of the 2012 Town of Vashon Plan will be presented at Monday’s VMICC meeting, where informal feedback will be solicited. The general council will eventually vote on the plan.

Under the signage regulations drafted by the the committee, new signs in Vashon Town — from Ober Park to Cemetery Road and 107th Avenue to 97th Avenue — would be limited to 25 square feet and could not contain illuminated changing messages or pictures. Lighted signs could have only one light on each side.

“We don’t feel that the big plasma display signs reflect our rural character at all. In fact, they destroy it. … There needs to be some sort of guidelines, or there are going to be more of those kinds of signs,” Sheard said.

Existing display signs at Island Lumber and Thriftway would be grandfathered in. However, under the proposal, the businesses would have to turn off their signs when they closed, she said.

While most on the committee didn’t take issue with the many sandwich boards that line the town’s sidewalks, saying they actually reflect the Island’s rural character, Sheard said some Islanders don’t like them and they are technically in violation of King County code.

The county has taken notice of the violations, she said, but graciously gave Vashon time to complete its town plan before taking action.

Under the new signage proposal, each business could have one sandwich board, provided it allowed a four-foot clearance on the sidewalk and was removed by 11 p.m. each day.

Sheard hopes the compromise will both please those who feel the sandwich boards are hazardous and unattractive and meet the approval of the King County Council, which will consider the plan in 2012.

“There are definitely some residents who don’t like them. We’re limiting them to represent those people,” she said.

Paul Reitenbach, a senior policy analyst with the county’s Department of Development and Environmental Services, said he will be at Monday’s meeting to hear the town plan committee’s recommendation and discuss the King County Comprehensive Plan, which is also being updated now.

Reitenbach said that Vashon’s town plan is set to go before the county council in March 2012, at the same time as the county’s plan, so that both could be approved by September 2012.

And while he couldn’t speak for the council, Reitenbach said his office would work to see that the town plan committee’s signage recommendation became law on Vashon, whether that means amending Vashon’s town plan to encompass the new rules or changing signage codes for all of unincorporated King County.

“All we can do is applaud the citizens who have the energy to put into this planning work, and I’m looking forward to getting the recommendations,” he said. “We will try to get it approved.”

Sheard believes the signage proposal will be met positively by Islanders, as she has already received positive feedback on it both at town plan committee meetings and via an online forum where over 100 Islanders have commented on portions of the plan.

Sheard said the plan has been modified based on feedback; she is only aware of one business owner who isn’t happy with the proposed regulations.

Deborah Richards, director of the Vashon-Maury Island Chamber of Commerce, said she was pleased that the committee kept the businesses’ interests in mind as it drafted its signage regulations.

“It’s a very fine line you walk between being able to promote your business and get the customers inside your door, and still maintain that character of Vashon that most of that community wants to have stay,” she said. “It’s a fine line to find that balance and they’re working hard to do that.”

Both Sheard and Richards said they hope Islanders and Island business owners will show at Monday’s community council meeting to comment on the plan, saying it’s not too late to change any part of it.

“We absolutely want feedback,” she said. “I want the community to be well represented in all we do, because it’s really impactful.”

The Town Plan Committee will present the signage portion of the Town of Vashon Plan at the VMICC meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17. The Town Plan Committee meets on the third Wednesday of each month at Cafe Luna, and is open to all Vashon residents.