Ronnie Roberts would like the City of Auburn to ease up a bit on restrictions governing portable A-frame or sandwich board signs.
A-frame signs, said Roberts, president and part owner of Gosanko Chocolate Art at 116 A St. SE., are vital to many businesses, especially smaller ones like his that lack advertising space.
Roberts is not alone with his concerns. Now, merchants and real estate brokers have asked the city to change the sign code to allow for expanded use of sandwich board signs.
The city’s Planning and Community Development Committee took up the issue Monday in the Council Chambers at City Hall.
Among the key issues:
• Should A-frame signs be allowed under certain circumstances or not at all?
• If they are allowed on sidewalks or in the public right-of-way, in what parts of the city?
• Should they be allowed outside of the downtown?
• And how should they be placed so as not to impede pedestrians or the disabled?
“There are jurisdictions that deny them, there are jurisdictions that permit them temporarily,” said Auburn Senior Planner Al Hicks. “I think one jurisdiction permits them temporarily 12 times a year. Some require that they be against the building others require them on the edge of the sidewalk. It’s pretty broad.”
Committee members asked city staff to obtain input from the city’s risk manager and its insurance provider regarding liability and directed staff to keep working on the issue.
Roberts said city standards don’t match standard A-frame signs available on the market, especially in terms of size. Such a discrepancy, he said, forces merchants to go to the added expense of building their own signs or modifying what they have bought.
Roberts added that he doesn’t believe A-frame signs need pose an impediment to passersby.
“I think the sidewalks are already so friggin’ big it doesn’t impede people walking or coming by with carts,” Roberts said. “There is plenty of room there. At the same time, the sign has to be tastefully and professionally done. The problem is that if they are too small, they blow over. The bigger ones tend to stay up a bit more. I think it’s very vital to merchants in any business to have that.”
