This is really from the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" department. Alexandria Bay officials are trying to force a law on local businesses to ban sidewalk signs on the basis they are a safety hazard....Even though the Mayor admits there is no recorded instance of a mishap.
Merchants are mad as their right to exercise commercial speech is infringed.
This is a village that depends on commercial activity...the kind of small businesses that need means to get their message out.
Signs on sidewalks, buildings and awnings are classic Americana, an no rational person would resist reasonable requirements to make sure the signs in question are sturdy and safe.
Sidewalk signs are where you find out what the lunch special is or what entertainment there is tonight. Those who get in government and then use their role to harass and hinder small business should really consider a career change.
Watertown Daily Times Bay businesses still sour on sign restriction
6 comments:
Not enough to do in Watertown, Jeff?
You are 100% correct on this.
But Watertown has even more crazy sign laws.
And I think it was you that made a moratorium on enforcing them.
Did you not get harassed over a sidewalk sign at your bar a few years back?
And doggie doo got run out of town because of the unreasonable restrictions in the city center overlay.
Kevin Fear got singled out for enforcement while the cow was disingenuously determined not to be a sign. Now his delivery vehicle is a giant sign.
Meanwhile, fastrac’s whole facility is one giant sign that gets ignored.
Sunoco canopies and gas pumps are giant signs. I liked the old ones better without the NASCAR checkers.
The old pizza hut paints its façade in loud fluorescent colors with no restrictions.
The new Kilted Tilt paints the whole guardrail in fluorescent colors.
Cam’s Pizza paints giant yellow on their building and a finger pointing to the door. Which is probably against the contract they signed when alphabet-soup paid to fix up their façade.
Burger king upped the size of their signs from reasonable to overbearing about ten years ago.
Watertown savings bank got turned down for their sign and had to get a smaller one that is just fine in size but I doubt would have been overbearing if they kept the original size.
It’s against the law to advertise off premise so Maggie’s doesn’t get a sign on Coffeen.
Morison’s giant sign is way out of compliance but it really adds to the building and I would miss it if it were made to fade away.
The old bar on leray street is getting fixed over without any site plan review.
Home depot is in a planned development so they get unlimited signage including fluorescent orange around the whole building, which would not be allowed in a prudent community.
And lets not forget billboards. The city sold the factory street lot to PJ for a fraction of what it cost to clean up so he could put up a billboard. And Donegan and PJ both get planned developments out on 81 and put up tons of billboards.
Watertown has more than its fair share of crazy sign laws, they just are not being enforced right now.
I agree on the sign laws in Watertown and have opposed them conistantly.
Like most such laws they are only enforced on a complaint only basis so numerous infractions occur that are only acted on when someone wants to play "gotcha".
Ergo, I urge the Bay to not follow the lead of others, including us, in attempting to overmanage commercial speech.
Signs, signs, everywhere the signs,
They talk about Ritchie, and they talk about Aubertine!
Signs, signs, everywhere the signs,
That Aubertine wins and Owens too
:)
At least you're "conistant".
Mike, I sure hope some education type can get you a job. There is no end to the pleasure you could give to some administrator, somewhere.
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