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What do you think the City of Wilmington should do about its sign ordinance? |
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What do you think the City of Wilmington should do about its sign ordinance? |
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Window signs pose NO health
Window signs pose NO health or safety concern to the general population. The only signs which the City should be concerned about would be physical signs which may fall into disrepair and potentially cause a hazard to the public.
The CONSUMERS will decide whether or not a store is inviting or not. The six City Council members and one Mayor are far from qualified to dictate what ALL businesses need downtown when each business has its own demographic or audience which it is trying to attract. If a business is not able to generate an income, then the owner will either change their signage practices or deal with the outcome. It doesn't need to be told how to run its business and should have the freedom to make its own decisions.
Furthermore, City Council is using downtown as the guinea pigs with these ordinances, but may or may not decide to apply the results to ALL businesses in Wilmington. So, ALL businesses in Wilmington should be concerned about this.
Additionally, if you are going to make specific ordinances for specific areas (which was discussed at the last meeting) then the only "stakeholders" which need to have input are the people who have businesses in the area. People who do not frequent or want to come downtown should not be giving input into something which they aren't involved. Thanks for trying to get everyone's nose in everyone business though, Miss Padgett.
Downtown should not be
Downtown should not be disturbed or modernized. It is a beautiful and wonderful historic place. You can find everything there concerts, resturaunts, unique stores, and the beaitiful history all around you, why ruin such a beautiful place?
Downtown
And little fairies will hover over her at night sprinkling magic dust on her....
Yes, it is a charming place for all people of this area and offers so many things to each individual.
I grew up in Wilmington, and I have seen the downtown desolate and sad, not at all what it is today. If it hadn't been for the small businesses that took a chance, and I mean ALL of these businesses (not just restaurants and shops), it would still be a sad place. But these businesses, who employ our residents, who strive to make their businesses all they can be within the scope of their model, who pay the rent and keep downtown alive, have the right, I think, to advertise in whatever way they can without being offensive. And we, as residents, should support them in this to keep our lovely downtown thriving. Because these businesses came and took a chance to make a go of it, concerts began, people from the area started seeing downtown as more that blocks of empty, run down, historical buildings, it became the place to be in Wilmington.
If you haven't noticed, businesses are still not competing for space downtown, but it has improved alot. Also, there is alot of effort by the city to make it even more charming, like the roads, parking, trees, and improved crosswalks. But the rules and ordinances that are being passed on to the small business owners there are stifling them, choking them out, and it's just going to get worse if we allow our city council to continue passing ordinances and rules against them.
So, enjoy downtown for what it is, and allow it to grow. Little fairies are not going to make it what it was in the 1880s, it must be allowed to thrive and grow in our lifetime, and a few signs will not take the charm away, but may help the businesses there grow it into an even better historic city.
Low priority
With more pressing economic issues facing our community, enforcing a sign ordinance would seem to be a very low priority for a governing body.This illustrates what a bunch of clowns we have locally trying to direct our future.
Leave it alone
Personally I think:
They should leave well enough alone. IF I own the building or I pay rent and I pay taxes on my business, they have no right to tell me how much of my windows can be used for signs. They are stepping over their bounds and it is time for the business owners to step up and say enough is enough.
There ought to be another
There ought to be another choice about this ordinance, the choice should read SHOVE IT!
There is another choice....
Than shove it. It is- Clean out your desk and get out of city hall- after the next election.
Last Meeting
If you were at the last meeting (11/1/11), you would know that while three of the city council members sat quietly on the sidelines during this discussion there were three others who did contribute.
Ronald Sparks and Charlie Rivenbark "appeared" to be more in line with the business owners who reflect this poll while Laura Padgett wanted to increase the input city wide to all districts even though the results would only be enforced in the downtown district.
Two of these people are up for re-election (Sparks/Padgett) and they seemed to be on opposite sites of the vision. I'm willing to give Sparks a pass, but would agree with vacating the seat held by Padgett.
Plus, it was Sparks who asked whether it was legal (and insinuated whether it was even fair) to only apply the rules to downtown when the same or different businesses in other areas of the city would be exempt from them.
sites = sides
oops :)