October 11, 2007
By: Sid Riley
This column presents a non-partisan, conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items that are impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope that you will read the column regularly and that it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
"Are over regulatory code requirements and restrictive sign ordinances in Marianna an indication of an anti-business attitude of the town’s civic leaders?"
A frequent topic of conversation among business owners and operators in the city of Marianna are repeated examples of what is commonly perceived as the "anti-business" attitude that emits from the city administrators and many of its employees. They often speak out only in private, in hushed tones, due to fear of continuing reprisals from the officials that administer the rules they are forced to live by.
Although the definition, administration, and enforcement of the myriad of business and construction codes that over regulate local businesses is a continuing point of controversy and contention, the primary focus of this writing will be the existing ordinances that regulate business signs in the city.
This subject was prompted earlier this week when a local small business owner, the operator of the Raggedy Ann Day Care Center on South Street came into our offices with steam spewing from most of his body orifices. He was "steaming" because of an encounter he had just had with city officials over the small sign that identifies his business to the public.
It seems that a limb fell from a nearby tree and knocked down his sign. Instead of merely putting it back up again, he wanted to upgrade the sign with a more attractive design. That caused the city sign cop to enter the scene and prohibit him from changing the sign. It appears that since he is in a home based business in an area zoned residential his sign options are very, very restricted.
They refused to allow him to modify the sign because he was residential, even though each year for the past eleven years they have required him to buy a commercial license. The final straw came when he asked the city to remove the debris from the limb for him and they said they couldn’t do it because he wasn’t residential. DUH!
Before proceeding, let’s recall the history of how the existing strict sign codes evolved. The existing body of "sign law" was enacted in 1999. It was supposedly sparked when a home owner in the neighborhood located near Watson Drive placed several ugly, crudely constructed plywood, hand painted "For Sale By Owner" signs in his front yard. This prompted several complaints from area property owners.
Harold Emrich was the City Manager at the time, and he embarked on a campaign to get the City Commissioners to enact a more restrictive body of sign ordinances. It is my understanding that he obtained a copy of the ordinances used by Destin, and with his urging had the Commission pass the codes into law. (Emrich was later fired by the Commission.) These rules might have been appropriate for Destin, but in my opinion they were ill conceived for our "small town" needs. They are much too restrictive.
We should have had enough expertise or motivation to write our own ordinances.
As is often the case with governments, it appears that we went from having too little regulation, to having too much regulation. The area of "reason and common sense" was passed by as the pendulum of law creation swung to the opposite extreme.
The city hired a "sign-a’crat" and immediately went to work enforcing the new body of sign law. One of the first actions was to force removal of all of those convenient bus stop benches that were strategically placed at many street corners in town. The backs of these benches presented advertising for many small, local businesses…..when no one was sitting on the bench.
Well, the convenient benches were removed, and the form of advertising eliminated by "Big Brother" City of Marianna. Several local business owners protested loudly to the commissioners, but to no avail. The owners of P.C. Oak and Brass, the unique antique store that then filled the old Stone Hotel with great treasures, claimed that their business fell by over 25% when this advertising opportunity was removed by the city.
That business caused many travelers to stop and spend time in Marianna. It was a good attraction and something interesting for people to do while visiting our area. It was an attraction. Many cities have used the draw of antique shopping to create a tourist business for their towns. Havana and Chipley are local examples.
Not Marianna! Our city officials helped cause the only antique store in town to go out of business!
The new sign ordinance also quickly eliminated the use of the quaint "A" frame sandwich signs from being used in front of stores. This also evoked anger from many small business owners, but their pleas fell on the deaf ears of the commissioners.
Real estate companies could no longer put signs out to lead prospective buyers to a home located deep inside a neighborhood. Car dealers could no longer place signs or flags or banners on radio antennas or around the lots. Signs can have no movement or flashing to attract attention. Sizes are severely restricted. The famous news scrolling sign in New York’s Times Square would be illegal in Marianna, as would 90% of the signs in Las Vegas.
Zaxby’s encountered the horns of Marianna’s sign demons when they built their new store here. After building 138 stores around the country, they suddenly found themselves unable to use their usual sign on there restaurant here in little ole Marianna. Welcome to our town, Zaxby’s !
The technology of signs is evolving to computerized signs that change message and format on an intriguing, programmed basis. This technology is banned in Marianna. Many of the existing signs around town are "grandfathered" in for approval. However, when those businesses are sold or changed, the new sign ordnances will take effect.
This unfortunate situation is aided by the current and past composition of the Marianna City Commission. As a group, they have little experience as small retail merchants whose existence depends on how many people they can draw into their shop or restaurant each day. Most of the commissioners have earned their livelihood from Government employment or from operating businesses that survived from nursing on a Government teat. They have little empathy for the plight of the small business owners.
Thus the city of Marianna seems to have fostered an "anti-business" posture in a small town that is steadily losing downtown merchant activity to the booming retail activity that is growing out at "Malloyville", at the I-10 interchange. They need to wise up and relax their codes enough to let local businesses breathe and survive or retail business in the City of Marianna will continue to decline.
However, the real problem does not rest with the bureaucrats or even with the City Commissioners. It lies with all of us who refuse to take part in the government processes and allow the same little clique of individuals to dominate the City Commission year after year! It is our fault! If we can realize this fact and become involved "We Will Be Getting It Right"! At the very least, we should encourage the city commissioners to revisit their sign ordinances before more businesses relocate out of town.
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