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Letter to the editor

Clearwater shops balk at strict rules for signs

Todd Ramquist looks over a wall of peace flags, mostly from Burma. On the opposite wall, flags from Istanbul and Turkey cover the wall. He and Kiaralinda have transformed their home with peace flags in a holiday tribute to peace on Earth.
	[BILL SERNE | Times ]

When Clearwater City Council member George Cretekos attended the city's holiday parade Saturday, he found that a few onlookers wanted to talk to him about something besides the holiday.

They wanted to talk about signs and how they think the city is being draconian in its attempts to enforce sign laws and design standards downtown.

Could the city be driving away businesses that might help bring the downtown core back to life?

It is an important question. At Monday's City Council work session, Cretekos brought up those conversations and asked that the council have a full discussion of the issue after the holidays.

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable about what we're trying to do with our sign code," he said.

"I don't disagree with you," Mayor Frank Hibbard said. "That's something we need to revisit."

The issue came to the forefront after the St. Petersburg Times reported on the weekend opening of Jamba Juice, the first national chain to open in downtown since Starbucks. It has been a long drought. The smoothie cafe opened Friday across Cleveland Street from Starbucks.

The city and Jamba Juice had been trying to work through a disagreement over the chain's signage and building design. The cafe typically uses several signs on the front of its building and a bright yellow awning on the storefront. Neither met the city's codes.

After several people approached him to talk about the Jamba Juice dispute or their own struggles with the city over signs, Cretekos said he asked city staff what would happen if a business like McDonald's wanted to move into downtown and use its well-known golden arches sign. The answer he got was that the colors wouldn't be right for downtown. It was an answer that scared him, he said.

The issue is whether Clearwater can afford to be so strict when it needs to rebuild the downtown retail district. Should the city risk driving away businesses over issues like signs or awning colors when Cleveland Street is lined by vacant storefronts and outdated buildings?

Council member Carlen Petersen argued the other side, saying that companies often will go to great lengths to fit a community's standards. There was even discussion of a McDonald's in a resort area that changed its colors and the size of its signs to meet that area's very strict code.

"You have to be careful when you give companies carte blanche," she said.

Cretekos said he knows how much the appearance of Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard improved after the city adopted a strict sign ordinance that eventually forced all businesses to downsize their signs. Before and after photos show a striking difference, with trees and sky visible on a skyline once dominated by tall signs.

Clearwater is justifiably proud of the success of its citywide sign ordinance, and it is certainly important to have standards for a special district like the downtown.

But it also is important to make downtown a place where retailers want to locate their businesses.

Sign laws and design standards are worthy subjects for council discussion, and that conversation will provide a good opportunity to hear what downtown merchants and the larger community think about the current rules.

[Last modified December 17, 2007, 21:00:41]