Not to keep beating a dead horse, but another business is asking the city for a variance for a sign. A lot of space on this page has been dedicated to the controversy over requests for a sign variance from Walgreens, and there have been others before.
Blame the city, blame the sign ordinance — whatever. But since a new sign ordinance is under construction, Commerce needs to declare a moratorium on variances to its sign ordinance until the new ordinance can be reviewed and accepted. Hopefully, the new ordinance will meet the needs of present and future businesses while preserving the appearance of the downtown but, more likely, the requests for variances will continue as businesses decide they want a sign just a little bigger or just a little taller than what the new ordinance allows.
The city will have to cross that bridge when it comes to it. To date, although it rejected the Walgreens’ proposal, the city council has a record of approving too many variances. One aspect of creating a new ordinance should be a commitment by the city to actually following it. Variances should seldom, if ever, be granted; shortcomings found in the ordinance later should be dealt with through amendments.
In the meantime, let’s put the madness on hold. Declare a moratorium on variances to the city sign ordinance until the new ordinance is in place.
When will they stand up and be leaders in the community? Better yet, when will we get the voters out to give us leadership with a backbone?