Nov. 18--Last year, Lucy Scoville decided to advertise her new pumpkin pie milk shakes on a sign outside her store.
At the time, Scoville, owner of Sweet Cow Creamery on Laurens Street, wasn't aware that the City of Aiken's zoning ordinance does not allow "sandwich board" signs on downtown sidewalks.
According to
City Planning Director Ed Evans, the ordinance has been in the books for at least a decade but is not enforced under a request by Aiken City Council members.
A few years ago, Council members asked representatives with the Aiken Downtown Development Association to work with business owners to come up with suggestions for regulations that would allow sandwich boards downtown.
As it stands now, downtown business owners are allowed to place signs only on the face of a building or on its awning, said City Manager Roger LeDuc.
Scoville, who said she uses the signs to advertise her milk shakes and lunch specials, said they have been good for her business.
"It's the cheapest way to advertise," she said. "I've got to take advantage of everything that I can."
Mary O'Hare, owner of M.B. Jewelry and Beads on Laurens Street, is one of several downtown business owners affiliated with the ADDA. For the past couple of months, many business owners have worked as a subcommittee to come up with guidelines for the temporary sidewalk signs.
O'Hare places a sandwich board sign outside her shop each morning that displays the name of her store. She said she uses the sign because it makes the shop visible to passersby and it attracts businesses.
"I joined the sign committee because I feel that the current law is outdated," she said. "My concern is one day, someone's going to say, 'OK, we're going to make everyone take their sign down.'"
Carla Cloud, executive director of the Aiken Downtown Development Association, said most merchants use the signs to promote their stores and to draw customers.
"A lot of people feel that (sandwich boards) adds to the ambience of downtown," she said.
When the issue was first proposed to the ADDA by Council members, Cloud said a survey was sent to ADDA member businesses asking whether they would like the ordinance changed or left the way it was.
She said the majority of business owners responded saying that they would like the signs to be permitted but with guidelines. She said business owners do not want an ordinance that allows any sign on sidewalks.
Before putting together a proposal, the committee did a walk downtown, taking pictures and measurements of all known sandwich board signs. Among the list of 10 recommendations included in the ADDA's proposal are:
-- One sign per business
-- Maximum size of signs must be 4 feet high, 2¬ 1/2 feet wide
-- Signs must allow 4 feet for foot traffic
-- Signs must be placed only in front of advertised businesses
-- Signs must contain the business's name
-- Signs must be able to withstand gusty winds
Evans said members of the
City Planning Commission recently reviewed the proposal during its work session and have planned to look at the committee's suggestions at another work session next month.
Evans expects that the plan will officially be heard by the Planning Commission early next year.
Contact April Bailey at
abailey@aikenstandard.com
To see more of the Aiken Standard or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.aikenstandard.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, Aiken Standard, S.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
