Downtown business owners ask sign committee to leave ‘Open’ signs alone

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014, 11:32 p.m. — An invitation for public input on the city’s sign ordinance filled the city council chambers to overflowing Wednesday afternoon, leaving many attendees standing and listening from the hallway.

Bardstown business owners wait for their chance to address the sign committee.

More than 60 people came to offer their opinions about the sign ordinance, many of whom own or operate businesses in Bardstown.

A number of downtown merchants voiced support for the popular “Open” banners after comments by Larry Green, city assistant administrator, said during an Aug. 27 sign committee. At that meeting he told the committee he believed the the “Open” banners added visual clutter to downtown. Some are faded, ragged and look ugly, he said.

Buddy Gulden, owner of The Mercantile Store, 226 North Third St., took exception to Green’s earlier remarks.

“You don’t know what those banners do for our stores,” Gulden told the committee. “You take the banners away, you’re going to cost us a lot of business. The business people are what keeps Bardstown alive, they keep the tourists coming in.”

Christy Clark, owner of Mammy’s Kitchen, told the committee that last year her restaurant served 85,000 customers, and none complained about the “Open” signs.

“The first thing we do when we open is put the sign out in the morning, and taking it in is the last thing we do when we close,” she said.

Rick Hill, owner of J. Richard Hill & Co., suggested the council take time and gather information about how signs and ordinances from other communities.

Mary Carey, owner of At Mary’s, said the “Open” pennants originally were part of the downtown “Third On Third” events dating back to 2008. There were several different penants prior to the current blue and white ones, which have become an icon of downtown Bardstown.

“Anytime someone comes to Bardstown to do an article or story, they are part of every picture,” she said. If some look faded or ragged, that’s an maintenance issue.

Carey said she’s had Facebook comments noting the signs are useful for knowing when individual businesses are open, closed or open late.

Lisa Edelen noted that a recent out-of-town customer who was a member of his town’s Main Street committee took photos of her “Open” banner in order to show his fellow committee members what the downtown businesses are doing. As long as everyone downtown has an opportunity to buy one of the signs, no one is given an unfair advantage, Edelen said.

Howard Keene, co-owner of the Kentucky Bourbon Marketplace and a local banker, said his business benefits from the “Open” pennant and sandwich board signs. “Without those signs we would lose a lot of business,” he said.

Committee members Jerry Janes, left, and John Ballard listen while Larry Green, city assistant administrator, reviews the history of the sign ordinance.

Dedra Ford, co-owner of the Kentucky Bourbon Marketplace, described a variety of online, social media and traditional advertising methods she uses, but said the sandwich board and “Open” pennant “dollar-for-dollar, the most cost-effective advertising that I do.”

Ford said her business is located on Flaget half a block west of Third Street. The signs are crucial to her business because they attract customers who may not realize that a business is there.

“Bardstown has a very bad reputation that it is very difficult to do business here,” Ford said. “I feel like the city needs to be more supportive of small businesses versus making it harder to operate a business here.”

Ford said she felt the decision-makers were out of touch, and cited the 4 p.m. meeting as an example. The meeting time forced her to decide between closing her business early to attend or to hiring someone to work while she was gone.

“I just feel like we need to do more to promote small business in our community, and I would like us to say ‘Bardstown is open for business,’ ” she said to applause.

Bardstown Barber Shop owner Rosemary Humkey told the committee city businesses should have the same advantages as county businesses when it comes to signage. This would include the city allowing one fulltime temporary sign, which is what is allowed by the county sign ordinance. She also said she would like to see signage for businesses that sit lower than the adjacent roadway to have the right to have their sign higher to compensate for the low location.

Bardstown attorney Doug Hubbard said appeals of the city’s sign ordinance should stay with the city council rather than moved to the city’s board of adjustments. “I’m amazed that the [zoning board] did it as long as they did it,” Hubbard said. “You’ve got to get something that is fair and can be uniformly enforced.”

Charles Howard, vice chair of the planning commission, spoke as a citizen and warned that the planned changes will take the city council out of the appeals process.

“You need to make sure that the people who make these ordinances and impose them on you all stay responsible for the ordinances they make,” he said.

Rick Hill, owner of J. Richard Hill & Co., a Bardstown real estate development firm, called the “Open” pennant signs repetitive.

“I think you’re selling yourself short,” he said. “Yes, you should have the right to say you’re open, but maybe you should explore more creative ways to express the individuality and sensibilities of your store.”

He suggested the committee slow down its work and take time to explore the types of signage that it would like to have. “The existing ordinance doesn’t show examples of what you can do,” he said. He suggested researching examples of what other communities are doing for signage.

Samantha Brady, director of downtown development for the Bardstown Main Street program, told the committee that downtown businesses overwhelming support keeping the “Open” pennant signs. Shoppers tell retailers the signs let them know if a business is open before they park their car.

The “Open” signs are part of the city’s branding now, Brady said. “We have tons of people copying off of us, so we may need to do something new. But let’s listen to all of our merchants because they are what really make Bardstown.”

NEXT UP. The sign committee will meet again at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 24.

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