Business owners came out in force Thursday night to defend the sandwich board signs they use to drum up business as the city looks to add flexibility in its sign code, which now bans the use of the portable, temporary signs in public rights of way.
According to information presented at a public input session in City Council Chambers, city staff is looking at allowing sandwich boards, also called A-frame signs, on public right of ways, mainly sidewalks, under a series of conditions, including:
Signs must be located within 6 feet of the business entrance.Signs must maintain 4 feet of sidewalk clearance to any obstacle such as trees and benches.Signs must be secured or anchored so they do not fall over.Sign locations must be approved by city staff.A maximum of one sign per street level storefront is allowed even if the building has multiple tenants.Businesses must obtain a Revocable Encroachment Permit, which cost $50, for each sign.In addition, signs in public rights of way would have to meet all requirements for businesses’ sandwich boards that are currently permitted on private property. Among those requirements is that the signs must be made of traditional materials, which bans the use of plastic signs.
Sherrie Martin, owner of T’s Smokehouse & Grill, at 3 Depot Place, located behind the Durango Lodge on east Fifth Street, said she places signs more than 6 feet from her entrance because the business is so hidden it is hard for pedestrians to see it from the street.
“At 6 feet, our signs would be on our porch,” she said.
Martin said her current signs, one on east Fifth Street and one on East Second Avenue, are vital to direct customers to her hidden location.
In addition, she said, through trial-and-error, she has discovered that plastic signs are the most durable and can be weighted down with sand so they don’t blow down in the wind.
“We’ve gone through so many signs. Aluminum signs fly away and wooden signs don’t hold up. Our signs are aesthetically pleasing. They hold up. And in the wind, they don’t blow away,” she said of her plastic signs.
Colleen O-Brien, business development and redevelopment coordinator, said the city has not enforced its sign code since 2015, when a U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled municipal sign codes must be content-neutral – cities cannot have different rules for business signs, political signs or religious signs.
However, with the adoption of the new sign code in February, the city will soon begin enforcing the sign code, including whatever rules are eventually adopted for temporary sandwich board signs.
Cole Glenn, owner of The San Juan Angler, 600 Main Ave., also objected to the banning of plastic. His said he spent up to $300 for signs that are well-designed with inserts that he can change easily, and they are also durable, aesthetically pleasing and can be weighted with sand.
Public content was also taken on rules for banners, with Al Harper, owner of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, objecting to time limitations city staff is considering adopting for banners.
Under the proposed rules, banners would be allowed to go up six times per calendar year and remain up for no longer than 14 consecutive days.
Harper said D&SNG has banners for the Polar Express that are up sometimes for 75 days at a time.
“This wouldn’t work for us at all,” he said.
O’Brien said exceptions to rules might be able to be accommodated through the city’s Master Sign Plan Program, and perhaps allowances could be made for unique circumstances.
The City Council will hold a work session Tuesday to examine proposed changes to the sign code for sandwich board signs and banners. The proposed changes are scheduled to go before the Durango Planning Commission on March 18 and before the City Council on April 2.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
