Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Farmington Sign Ordinance Comes Under Review
FARMINGTON —After relaxing the restrictions for signs in the city of Farmington, the city has decided to enforce the sign ordinance while it goes through a review process to make the rules more business friendly.
According to a letter from Mayor Ernie Penn to Farmington business owners, a new Sign Committee will hold its first meeting at 5:30 p.m., Sept. 30 at City Hall. Penn’s letter states that the city is looking for business owners to serve on the committee so their interests can be represented.
Dan Ledbetter, public works director, said the city decided to relax the restrictions on signs several years ago to help businesses, in particular those stores that are not located along Main Street.
However, Ledbetter said signs have recently become an issue in town and the city plans to enforce the rules until the regulations are amended.
Ledbetter said he found 21 signs in violation of the Sign Ordinance while driving around town Sept. 6. Of the 21, 15 violated the requirement that signs must be set back 15 feet from the backside of the curb. Others were in violation of the regulations for banners, temporary signs and off-premise signs.
Ledbetter said he talked to the business owners about the ordinance and all either relocated their signs or removed them.
City Business Manager Melissa McCarville said the city needs to rework its sign ordinance.
“We need something that’s good for business and is easy to understand,” McCarville said.
Ledbetter agrees that the ordinance is confusing. He said business owners and others have to look at several places in the regulations to figure out the different rules.
Farmington City Council adopted a Sign Ordinance on July 9, 2001. Attached to the ordinance is a 26-page exhibit that spells out the city’s requirements for placement and maintenance of signs.
Currently, the Sign Ordinance does not allow off-premise signs or portable signs. For instance, a business on Southwinds Drive is not allowed to place a sign to promote their business on Main Street. The Sign Ordinance allows businesses to put up banners four times a year for 10 days each time. Temporary signs are allowed for a maximum period of 15 days for special events only two times per year.
Ledbetter said he hopes the committee can come up with language that will help customers find businesses off Main Street.
Amy Hutcherson, owner of Funky Monkey Boutique on Southwinds Drive, said not being able to place signs along the highway will hurt businesses on Southwinds Drive and other side streets.
“Small businesses cannot survive without some sort of direction from 62,” Hutcherson said. “We somehow have to capture the 25,000 cars that go up and down Highway 62.”
Hutcherson recently complained to City Hall when city workers pulled one of her signs but left other signs in violation of the Sign Ordinance. Her complaint, Hutcherson said, is that the city should be fair and consistent when enforcing the sign ordinance.
Mike Tooley of Tooley’s BBQ on Southwinds said his main concern has been with the city consistently following the ordinance for all businesses. He said he has followed the ordinance and not placed signs along the highway but other businesses have done so in violation of the ordinance and their signs were not removed in the past.
Like Hutcherson, Tooley said signs are important to his business.
“I’ve been in real estate 25 years and everyone knows that’s what you do to sell a house,” Tooley said.
Chatty Cathy’s Boutique is a new store in town and owner Cathy Walthers said she could tell when her temporary sign on Southwinds Drive was pulled by the city. The sign was too close to the curb.
“I understand we need a sign ordinance because we don’t want signs put up everywhere but businesses do need to be able to promote themselves,” Walthers said.
Prior to Sept. 6, Jim’s Razorback Pizza on Southwinds had a banner along the street telling about the restaurant’s daily lunch special. Vickie Strobe, manager of Jim’s Razorback, said she has been at the restaurant for more than a year and did not know about the sign restrictions until Ledbetter informed her that the banner was in violation of the setback requirements.
“No one said anything before, not one word,” Strobe said.
She said the restaurant cannot place a sign on Main Street so the banner on Southwinds helped promote the business.
“We’re trying to get established here,” Strobe said. “Our biggest problem is that people don’t know we’re here.”
Hutcherson said she plans to participate on the Sign Committee and has several ideas she hopes will help businesses.
For one, she said she believes the city needs to “lighten up” on the sign regulations.
“We’re a small town,” she said, noting she also serves on the Economic Development Committee and this committee is trying to bring businesses into Farmington, not deter them.