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Largo needs sign law that is fair and firm

Once upon a time, the city of Largo created a sign ordinance. And it was good. Then, merchants and others complained that the ordinance was too strict. The people who created the ordinance had second thoughts.

They changed parts of the ordinance and backed off strict enforcement. The complainers were happy, and the city was happy the complainers were happy.

But out on the streets, Ugly appeared.

Signs big, signs tall, multiple signs on the same property, balloons and banners, dancing characters - it's all out there on Largo streets, and some current city commissioners say they have had enough. Time for a new sign ordinance, they say.

The new ordinance that is under construction would call for smaller and shorter signs, would encourage monument signs that sit on the ground and are only 6 to 8 feet tall, would address directional signs within a property like a shopping center or business park, and would provide for special signs in areas where there is road construction. Those are just some of the provisions designed to make the city more attractive and streets less distracting for motorists.

The City Commission may even consider banning or controlling the use of costumed characters that stand outside businesses and wave at passing cars. However, commissioners are a bit compromised on that issue, as Commissioner Mary Gray Black correctly noted at a recent meeting.

"I would ask that the business people not be restricted from something that we as commissioners do every election when we stand on the corner ...and wave 'Vote for me' signs. If it's good enough for us, then I think it should be good enough for those who pay a tax to run a business in the city," she said.

The city staff and commissioners are working hard on the sign code and have held several public discussions on the issue.

Some merchants in the city already are gearing up to fight the proposed new rules, dragging out that old saw that they need big signs to attract business. How then, we ask, do businesses survive in Sanibel Island, which has one of the strictest sign codes in Florida, or in Clearwater, which fought many court battles for the right to enforce its sign ordinance that has so improved the visual environment on that city's major roadways?

Businesses don't need big signs or lots of signs to survive. However, they do need an equitable sign code and one that is strictly enforced, so that one business does not gain a visual advantage over another.

Largo desperately needs a new, tougher sign ordinance, but it also needs the backbone to enforce it over time, no matter who complains or threatens court action.

[Last modified February 1, 2007, 00:23:11]