Downtown merchants are apparently just about evenly split on whether sidewalks should be a place for signboards, and city government, as governments always do, is looking for some parameters as to their size and frequency to create the proper balance between advocates and critics. In the set of requirements going before the city council next week for approval, the right balance may have been found by the city’s Planning Commission.
Portable signboards – also known as sandwich boards – are certain to be fewer in number than when they were unregulated. One per storefront will be allowed in the new proposal, even if there are several merchants at that location. Landlords may be called upon to referee.
Signboards will have to be against the building, within six feet of the store entrance, and not at the curb or parking meter, for example. That is so the walkway, for pedestrians, will be relatively unobstructed.
Businesses which do not have an entrance from a sidewalk – there might be a door toward the alley, for example – will be permitted a signboard. Requests for special exemptions in those cases will be heard.
Boards will be no more than four feet high and 12 square feet in size, and yes, they will be able to be constructed of plastic. When the draft rules were released, plastic was forbidden. Several merchants pushed back, claiming that plastic was best for durability and long life. Signs have to be either secured or sufficiently substantial to hold up to wind or a bump from a tourist or dog.
Signs will also have to be taken in at the end of the location’s business day.
And, as important, the new regulations require each signboard to be registered with the city at a cost of $50. With that, the city will have a handle on which sign boards have been approved and where, and which might not have been. Expect an approved sign board to sport a small numbered sticker.
The Herald’s editorial board has argued in favor of sidewalk signboards because of the visual character they add to downtown – Durango has many diverse businesses – and because they serve as a marketing tool. Linking consumers with retailers in the downtown is always a good thing.
Sidewalks which are fully open and scrubbed fresh do not seem to us to be part of a working, living downtown. In Singapore, perhaps, but not here.
Whether the City Council will have any adjustments to the sign board codes coming from the Planning Commission, we do not know. As they stand, we like them.
A win for rural schools
Attracting public school teachers to relatively low-population rural areas will always be a challenge. Salaries may be lower than in more populated districts, and many new teachers are usually single and want some Friday or Saturday night excitement under bright lights with a demographic close to their own, and perhaps to be in an environment of breadth and diversity.
Durango’s Rep. Barbara McLachlan, formerly an award-winning teacher at Durango High School, has pushed hard for a variety of incentives – usually financial – to help attract teachers to rural settings.
Tuition assistance in the form of grants and loans is the usual technique, and it can be couched in appealing ways.
One of Rep. McLachlan’s efforts was signed into law last week by Gov. Jared Polis, legislation which increases the number of teachers who can receive a $2,000 stipend for spending two years in a rural district and $4,000 for acquiring a national board certification. Previously limited to a cap of 100, the legislation now requires the Legislature to provide funding for as many applicants as qualify.
There is no single solution to successfully encouraging teachers to teach in rural districts, and efforts to match resources with wants will have to continue. But the stipends for a two-year commitment and advanced certification are a help. Well done.
