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Tarpon Holds Town Meeting On Sign Ordinance Changes

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: January 24, 2009

TARPON SPRINGS - Business owners and the city both agree that changes should be made in the city's sign ordinance to keep up with the times. The question that remains is how to make both sides happy.

Shop keepers say they need signs that attract both pedestrian traffic and potential customers driving by in vehicles. Meanwhile, city officials say they must prevent visual clutter and ensure signs are safe and not a visual nuisance.

Earlier this month city staff members held a town hall meeting at which they solicited public comment on the existing rules governing commercial signs and possible changes to those rules. Staff will use the information gathered at the Jan. 7 session in crafting an ordinance overhauling the sign regulations.

The city's Planning and Zoning Board would then decide whether to recommend that the City Commission approve any proposed changes.

The city needs to tweak the existing ordinance to reflect recent changes in case law regarding commercial sign regulation, interim City Manger Mark LeCouris said. City officials want to draft a sign ordinance that helps foster economic development and helps shopkeepers to survive, while protecting the city from visual blight, he said.

In interviews, some business owners said Tarpon Springs should streamline its sign regulations. The rules need to be less restrictive, allowing businesses to attract customers, the shop owners say.

Paul Menzer, owner of Menzer's Antiques, on Tarpon Avenue, said he and other antique merchants would like to place flags in front of their shops to lure motorists into stopping and browsing. Several years ago, when the city allowed roadside flags in front of shops, Tarpon Avenue had a festive look that attracted customers, he said.

Lori Rinehart recently opened Treasures from Heaven Consignment Shoppe to raise funds for area spouse abuse and homeless shelters. She says the city has to do more to help downtown businesses that are not on the downtown section of East Tarpon Avenue, the city's main commercial area.

So far, Rinehart said, few people have found her shop, which is along the Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail, at 17 N. Safford Ave. Restrictions in the sign ordinance hamper her ability to alert potential shoppers to the presence of the shop, she said.

The current regulations only allow sandwich board-type signs in front of the shops they advertise. The signs pointing the way to her business, however, need to be on Tarpon Avenue, where the shoppers are, Rinehart said.

Pole-mounted directional signs of the type along Main Street in Safety Harbor would go a long way toward getting shoppers to businesses adjacent to Tarpon Avenue, she said.

In addition, the current rules place tough restrictions on the use of hanging signs, banners and balloons for advertising, Rinehart noted.

"In this economy the city needs to do everything it can to help business survive," she said.

George Pandos, owner of another recently opened Tarpon Avenue shop, Furniture and Mattress Emporium, said when it comes to advertising sign rules Tarpon Springs is "the most anti-business city in the country."

High school students he employed to hold signs along roadways alerting motorists to his business have been threatened by police with being ticketed and arrested, Pandos complained. This sort of roadside advertising is protected by the First Amendment, he said.

The city has given him hassles about other things he has done to try to promote his business, Pandos said.

In response, LeCouris said city officials work with business owners and do what they can to address legitimate concerns. They also, however, want to prevent the proliferation of sign clutter and protect the public from unsafe roadside nuisances, he said.

People waving commercial signs could distract passing motorists, creating traffic hazards, said LeCouris, who is also the city's police chief. In the same vein, the city wants to prohibit the long-term parking of motor vehicles covered with advertisements along public rights of way, he said.

Some of these sign issues could be better addressed once the city assumes control over East Tarpon Avenue, LeCouris said. For example, the Florida Department of Transportation, which now has jurisdiction over Tarpon Avenue between Pinellas Avenue and U.S. 19, doesn't allow the directional signs used in Safety Harbor, he said.

Mark Schantz can be reached at 727-815-1075 or mschantz@suncoastnews.com.

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