Sheckles breaks city council’s 3-3 tie vote on sign ordinance revisions

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Councilman John Royalty comments during discussion on the revisions to the city’s sign ordinance.

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014, 11:55 p.m. — Changes to the city’s sign ordinance led to more than half an hour of debate and discussion before a split city council vote required Mayor Bill Sheckles to break the tie.

The second reading on changes to the city sign ordinance were designed to improve the ordinance’s definitions and remove imprecise language that led to the council voting against its own ordinance in an appeal filed by businesswoman Rosemary Humkey in July.

The changes classify vehicle signs — those that do not follow the vehicle’s original contours — as temporary signs that are allowed by permit for 4 one-week periods in a calendar year. The changes also provide that rooftop signs for delivery vehicles and taxis are exempt from the ordinance.

There was some confusion about the measure among the council members and the need for additional changes by the committee that is looking over the entire ordinance.

Councilman Francis Lydian said he felt the measure should be tabled because some small businesses have complained to him about the sign ordinance.

Larry Green, city assistant administrator, answered council questions about the sign ordinance revisions.

“Small business is the backbone of our community and we need to support our businesses,” he said.

Council Tommy Reed told the council the update only refines a handful of definitions in order for the planning commission to administer the full ordinance. The committee’s task is to examine larger issues involved in the full sign ordinance, he said.

“There are certain things that now are unenforceable,” Reed said. “The committee will have to look at things and decide if they can’t enforce something, do they need that [regulation].”

“All we’re doing is to clarify things during this interim period,” Larry Green, assistant city administrator, told the council. The council will have an opportunity later to examine the entire ordinance.

Councilman Bobby Simpson said he didn’t understand the hurry to change the ordinance, especially in light of the sign committee’s work to revise the entire ordinance.

Councilman John Royalty was critical of the measure because it would mean rooftop vehicle signs would be classified as temporary signs and limited to four one-week periods per calendar year, while delivery vehicles and taxis would have roof-mounted and lighted signs all the time.

“You’ve left out small businesses in Bardstown, but you’ve left corporate American in there,” he said.

The pizza and delivery signs are included simply because they were not included in the ordinance before, Green explained. “The intention when the ordinance was drafted was that we would not allow signs mounted on top of vehicles,” Green said.

Mayor Bill Sheckles makes a point during a discussion about the Bourbon City Bark Park.

Simpson didn’t like the fix-it-now and fix-it-later approach.

“We’re not fixing it, we need to fix it and not put a band-aid on it,” he said. “We do want it fixed, but we don’t want to patch it and then change it again later.”

At the end of the discussion, Reed’s motion to approve the sign ordinance amendments was seconded by Councilman Buckman, with both men being joined by Councilman Roland Williams to vote in favor of the measure. Councilmen Royalty, Lydian and Simpson cast no votes to created a 3-3 tie. With a bang of his gavel, Sheckles cast the deciding vote to approve the changes to the sign ordinance.

BARK PARK DONATION. Celeste Dawson addressed the council about the Bourbon City Bark Park’s request for a donation to help the facility complete Phase 1 of the complex.

The park will be an off-leash dog park that will serve the residents of Nelson County as well as travelers who visit the community. The park is a non-profit organization and has successfully raised most of the funds it needs to get the park open.

Dawson said the park’s operation will be funding by fees; annual memberships will cost between $35 to $50 a year, she said. “We want to keep it reasonable, but we also need to cover our costs.”

Nelson Fiscal Court had approved a $2,500 donation to help with infrastructure at the park. After discussing the park’s features — and a discussion of the fact the city cannot provided in-kind assistance — the council agreed to donate $2,500 from the council’s contingency fund.

NEXT UP. The Bardstown City Council will meet next at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014.

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