Sign Ordinance Consultant

The City of Murfreesboro, located in Rutherford County, Tennessee, is seeking a professional consultant to review and comprehensively update its existing sign ordinance through a Request for Competitive Sealed Proposals (RFCSP-05-2022). The primary objective is to develop a condensed, simplified, and modernized sign ordinance that addresses contemporary legal and regulatory challenges, replacing the current ordinance originally adopted in 1984. The selected consultant will be responsible for conducting a thorough review of existing sign regulations, making recommendations on specific sign issues, definitions, and enforcement standards, and incorporating input from various stakeholders including interest groups, citizens, city staff, and elected officials. The project will require addressing complex sign-related topics such as political signs, non-commercial signs, flags, real estate signs, digital signs, and billboards, while ensuring compliance with recent state and federal court decisions. Proposals were to be submitted electronically via the city's e-Procurement Portal by September 21, 2021, at 2:00 P.M. Central Standard Time, with evaluation criteria weighted as follows: 35% on experience and qualifications (preferring an AICP Planner), 20% on references, 30% on benefit to the city, and 15% on cost proposal.

While no specific set-aside designations or restrictions on respondent types were explicitly mentioned in the provided documentation, the procurement appears to be open to professional planning and consulting firms with expertise in municipal ordinance development. The evaluation criteria suggest a strong preference for consultants with professional planning credentials, particularly those with AICP (American Institute of Certified Planners) certification. No information was provided about incumbent vendors, existing infrastructure, or specific budget ranges for the project. The consultant will be expected to work from the point of hire until final approval of the new Sign Ordinance by the Murfreesboro City Council, indicating a potentially extensive engagement period. The comprehensive nature of the project suggests a significant scope of work that will require in-depth legal, regulatory, and urban planning expertise to successfully modernize the city's sign ordinance.