Downtown business owners say sign fines unfair, onerous
If Texarkana, Texas, city officials want to revitalize downtown Texarkana, two downtown business owners say they are going about it the wrong way.
“If they want to have downtown Texarkana come back to life, they might want to consider some breaks or incentives for those who are trying to revitalize downtown,” said Patricia Lalonde, who operates Bubblecraft Soapworks on West Broad Street with her husband, Mike Lalonde.
The couple received a letter from the city’s building and code division dated May 11 informing them they were in violation of a sign ordinance and had attached a sign to the building without a permit. However, what they had done was recover the sign attached to the building with a two-sided banner advertising their business.
Sec. 24-7 of the city code “Signs and Awnings-Permit,” reads, “Any person desiring to erect or place an overhanging sign or awning over or across any sidewalk or over or across any public property in the city shall first apply for and secure a permit to do so from a city inspector.”
Mike Lalonde said he went to City Hall to plead his case, but got nowhere. He said when the person he was talking to found out the sign was doubled, he was informed he would owe $320 instead of the original $160. Upon receiving the letter on a Friday, they had three days to pay the fee, and the final day was on May 17, a Sunday.
“This sign has been on this earth as long as I have,” Mike Lalonde said during the public-comment portion of Tuesday’s council meeting. “I don’t own it, and I didn’t put it there. … If you are trying to attract merchants down here, you really need to help us somehow. This certainly does not.”
Ward 3 Council Member Tina Veal-Gooch said at Tuesday’s meeting the city may have overshot on fees in an effort to make things clear regarding signage.
“I think the fees are too high, and I think the city should go ahead and waive these particular groups’ violations on these fees,” said Gooch whose ward is downtown. “If it is difficult for us to understand all this, can you imagine how hard it is for a new business owner to understand?”
Assistant City Manager Shirley Jaster agreed and said the city was looking into decreasing fees. She said fees had not been raised in decades and an effort was made to modernize the fee system. The council plans to take a closer look at the fees from highest to lowest at several workshops to be held beginning at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday inside the City Hall conference room.
However, Jaster did say the business owners were in violation of the ordinance because they did not get a permit to put up the sign. She said most of the time, people making changes to the signs go through a sign company that handles the permits for them. The importance of this code is tied to safety, she said.
“If the sign has not been used in a long time, there could be electrical problems,” Jaster said. “If people are putting banners and things on the signs, the sign may not have been secured to the wall.”
Mike Lalonde said the fee was extremely high considering they have not even sold enough soap to pay for it since opening in January.
“I got charged a fee, but received no service,” he said. “Some clown came by here with a cellphone and took a picture. That looks more like a shakedown than a service. … It’s like a tax on moving.”
Patricia Lalonde said the couple loves the history of downtown and living in a designated historic district, but they are not getting any help from the city at their business. When they rented the property, Patricia Lalonde was told the city would plant a tree and other plants to make the curbside attractive. But the city put in a tree with an irrigation system that only waters the tree, so she planted plants and has to water them. She said she doesn’t mind, but just wishes there was some give-and-take.
Jaster said the city does offer many incentives for downtown businesses and she hopes no one thought the city wasn’t welcoming to businesses there.
“We try to work with individuals and what they are trying to do,” Jaster said. “We have provided loans to Pecan Point (brewery) because we are wanting it to thrive and come back. We are also doing that with a guitar and mandolin shop that will be on the corner of Broad and Main (streets).”
Taylor Barr, who operates The Beauty Barr salon in the building that formerly housed Cinema 218, said she also received a citation from the city for a similar signage issue. Babb said she removed the Cinema 218 sign, changed the bulbs and recovered it with a sign for her building. She said she didn’t remember the total of her fee, but that it was a lot.
“I don’t think it’s fair,” Barr said. “It feels like I’m trying to bring a business down here and create energy and (with no help). I know my neighbors and friends have (also) had these same kind of violations.”