Town extends sign moratorium to help strapped businesses

Owners say banners, sandwich boards are drawing in customers

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The La Plata Town Council enacted a 90-day moratorium on the use of off-site sandwich boards and banners in December to help business owners attract more customers to their establishments because the recession was hitting many of them very hard.

In March, the moratorium was extended for another 90 days. That extension ends June 30 and the council discussed the next step in the process during Tuesday's meeting at town hall.

The moratorium allows business owners who have establishments in out-of-the-way places in town to put sandwich boards on busier roads such as U.S. 301. There is no charge to place the sandwich boards and no permit is required.

Under the moratorium banners are allowed to be placed without charge to help owners advertise their businesses but permits to display them still need to be obtained from the town hall.

Butch Hunt, owner of Hunt Ford in La Plata and president of the La Plata Business Association, said during the meeting that many business owners in town are not stopping by town hall to get a permit before hanging banners.

The council is going to continue the off-site sandwich board and banner moratorium for 60 more days but the town's director of inspections, Jorge Thompson, has been instructed to enforce the rule that permits must be obtained before banners are displayed.

In addition, the council wants to limit the number of banners that a business can display to just one. Many establishments in town have as many as six banners strung across their storefronts or along fences on their property.

There is a 15 percent to 20 percent increase in the number of temporary signs that are being displayed since the moratorium took effect, said Town Manager Daniel Mears.

"The challenge is getting people to come in and apply for a banner permit," he said.

The town's design review board and the LPBA will review the guidelines of the moratorium and the sign ordinance and submit recommendations to the council in August about how long or if the moratorium should continue.

Hunt said he surveyed several businesses in La Plata that were taking advantage of the moratorium. All of the owners and managers said that being able to hang banners and in some cases set up sandwich boards has greatly improved business, he said, adding that he is also using a banner at his car dealership.

"My business has picked up so much that I had to buy another vehicle that is available for rental," he said. "The businesses are very, very appreciative of what the council has done to help them and it really has helped."

But Hunt said that he agrees with the council that the rules regarding the moratorium should be enforced.

"The moratorium is a good thing; it shouldn't be done away with but there needs to be some control," he said. "I definitely would like to see it continue. It's a very positive step for businesses, especially right now with the way the economy is going. Businesses need all of the help that they can get."

Sheila Biagi, manager of Sun Time Tanning on Drury Lane, said banners that advertise special promotions really draw in customers.

"It does help bring in business," she said, adding she used a banner recently to advertise a free tanning day at the shop. "We had a lot of people come in because they saw the sign."

Pizza Hotline on Charles Street also gained a lot more customers because of using a banner to advertise a special.

"People called specifically for the special," said Julie Smoot, one of the shop's managers. "It brought in a lot of business."

Paul Thompson, owner of Thompson Seafood in La Plata Village center, said a sandwich board that he placed on U.S. 301 near the shopping center drew in more customers than he's seen since the establishment opened five years ago.

"A lot of people didn't know that we were here," he said. "The sandwich board really worked for me. A lot of people look specifically for seafood signs. It tripled my business."

Thompson said for the most part the sandwich boards and banners are tasteful.

"They're mostly in the common areas and at busy intersections," he said. "They're in very good taste."

Catherine Flerlage, the town's planning and zoning director, said that some businesses will take advantage of the moratorium if it is not kept in check.

"If there's no fee or time limit attached it's a struggle for business owners to see the needfulness of coming to town hall and filling out a piece of paper," she said.

Ward 4 Councilman Joe Norris said that the design review board wants to review the situation. Norris is the council representative on the board.

"The board is sympathetic with the economic situation but they don't want to see the council throw out all of the sign regulation guidelines," he said. "The board would like to see the council start to rein things in. They don't want the moratorium to go on long-term."

"I'm very concerned when I see as many as six banners up at one business," said Ward 2 Councilman C. Keith Back. "That goes beyond what is needed. I would like to see only one banner allowed at each business so business owners don't abuse it. That still meets the intention of the moratorium to bring in additional business."

"I would like to see us go back to some sort of regulations but I don't want it to go back to the way it was before the moratorium," said Ward 3 Councilwoman Paddy Mudd.

Mayor Roy Hale said the moratorium is an important economic development tool because it is helping some town businesses stay afloat in this rough economic climate.

"In December we were concerned about how the economy was impacting businesses in La Plata," he said. "The worst thing that could happen is that businesses will close, and we start seeing empty storefronts."

nmcconaty@somdnews.com