Spruce Grove residents and business owners had their voices heard at a city council meeting Monday afternoon. They were concerned about a section of the new land use bylaw, pertaining to how long they can keep portable signs on their property.
Picketers marched to city chambers, demanding council give them a second chance to voice their opinions about the new bylaw. Their main issue is that the proposed bylaw would force business owners to take down their signage every 150 days, for a 30 day mandatory rest period.
Spruce Grove City Manager, Douglas Lagore, says there are a few of reasons behind that rule.
“You can have a property where you have a number of tenants and they’re all clamoring, trying to get that signage out in front of their store. You can’t have one out there for everybody so we are trying to allow some flexibility for sharing of that space.”
Lagore says it’s unfair if, for example, you have six businesses but only space for one sign.
“By having it for 150 days, and then a rest period, someone else can step in and get their sign out for a while. It’s allowing some flexibility.”
Lagore says there is also a proliferation of illegal signs around the community and council has to balance the needs of the business community, with what residents want.
But, many business owners say they aren’t happy with that proposal, saying they rely on portable signs to make a living.
“A lot of the local businesses use portable signage for the purposes of advertising monthly events, sales, that sort of thing. That keeps people coming in their doors,” explains Brenda Johnson of the Spruce Grove and district chamber of commerce.
Ken Munro owns a diner that is located on a busy highway. He has two signs he uses on an ongoing basis and says he depends on signs to get his message out to potential customers.
“That business is essential to keep us afloat, we’re not major corporations, necessarily, that have lots of advertising dollars,” Munro says adding, “That’s how I support my family.”
He says not being able to use his signs year round will be detrimental to his business.
At the council meeting Monday evening, there was an unexpected turn of events. The city’s legal team advised administration that an advertisement had gone out with a deadline for written submissions, before the paper was even published.
Due to the error, the city is putting the issue back in the public’s hands for input. This gives business owners a glimmer of hope but, there’s no guarantee that section of the bylaw will be changed.
With files from Quinn Ohler.
Comments