The city council met to discuss several new ordinances, one of which is LED sign regulation.
The council decided Thursday evening to postpone a vote on possible changes to the sign ordinance until September 14
Currently, stores can only have free standing electronic signs in front of their business. But local business owners who don’t qualify for those free standing signs want to have an electronic message board outside their business walls.
Right now, signs on business exteriors are against city code but local businesses hope that changes soon.
“I think it will definitely help because we can put deals and stuff like that,” said an employee at Green Gorilla Vape and Smoke, Cory Rains. “People can walk by and see 20% off and things like that.”
The city council is discussing an amendment to city code that would allow LED signs on the exterior of businesses.
The Green Gorilla Vape Shop said they believe LED signs on the exterior of their shop would help bring customers in.
“We have that slim one but if we had a bigger one, we could go into more depth about deals that we’re having,” Rains said.
A majority of local businesses can’t qualify for free standing LED signs due to certain city regulations.
“It’s a formula that the city has put in place,” said Gary Vaughn, an employee at Garrison Brother’s Signs. He said it all depends on the distance between the sign, the curb and the entrance. These regulations rule out many businesses in shopping centers.
Without these signs, they are unable to advertise specials and sales to potential customers.
If the ordinance passes, Vaughn believes the signs will help small business. “Signs that can change will give them more presence,” he said.
The standards will be slightly different for LED signs on walls. The signs will only be able to change messages once per day to help prevent distracted driving from multiple message boards changing along the walls of buildings.
