 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
New controls to ease, not end, sign blight© St. Petersburg Times published December 11, 2002 The County Commission is trying to let taste replace tackiness along Pasco's roads. Commissioners took an important step toward that goal Tuesday, unanimously adopting new controls for commercial signs. Giant pole signs are no longer allowed and limits will be in place for flapping flags, banners, inflatable balloons and other visual assaults so common along U.S. 19. Unfortunately, there is little to be done about the current ugliness of that highway and others. The ordinance gives grandfather status to existing signs, meaning they won't fall under the new rules unless a business becomes vacant or the sign is changed. In other areas, however, new commercial signs must be the low-to-the-ground, monument-style signs that are visible along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in Hillsborough County. Pasco modeled its ordinance after the overlay district that exists there in New Tampa. Over the objections of private sign companies, the ordinance also prohibits so-called portable signs, the large, yellow signs that sit on wheels, but seem to rarely move. In many instances, they become permanent roadside fixtures, often along public rights of way, even though the former rules limited them to 60 days in a single location. County Administrator John Gallagher accurately described the signs as a nuisance. But there is a reason the nuisances flourished. Pasco County did little to enforce its previous sign controls. It's a legitimate gripe raised by the sign companies. Commissioner Pat Mulieri, who pushed for the ordinance, asked Gallagher to add two additional code enforcement officers. Gallagher agreed, noting new tree, landscape and now sign-control ordinances will require additional personnel. It is a commitment the commission needs to reinforce periodically. Gallagher also proposed the ordinance be reviewed in six months, a compromise to fend off criticisms from both opponents and advocates of the new controls. Kathryn Starkey of Scenic Pasco questioned the wisdom of allowing monument signs to be as large as 210 square feet and attorney Steve Booth called for a delay, saying the ordinance includes no variance provision. Such allowances should be allowed, Booth suggested, for motels at interstate exits that need larger signs to attract highway motorists. The commission wisely declined. Delaying the ordinance could have duplicated the mad rush of new billboards that blossomed across Pasco as the commission wrestled with billboard controls three years ago. Besides, this isn't entirely new for the county. The State Road 54 corridor study, approved last year, mandates smaller signs in the soon-to-develop area between Seven Springs and Land O'Lakes. The rest of the county now must meet similar standards. Commissioners frequently talk about improving the face of Pasco. The new ordinance isn't exactly plastic surgery, but it should bring more eye-pleasing roads as commercial development continues across the county.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times |
