Amador County – About 5 business owners attended a Jackson city staff workshop Wednesday on current and pending sign code.

City Manager Mike Daly said “everybody here is an important part of the business community,” and “we need to get comments in writing from you.”

City Planner Susan Peters and Daly discussed the city’s existing but little-enforced sign code, and draft changes the Planning Commission made using public comment with a notable lack of business owners’ input. Daly said the City Council realized they “need to get feedback from the businesses into the process.”

Among current code, outlawed are internally lit “cabinet signs” that use anything more than lettering and a logo. Proposed new code includes a 6-foot height limit. She said the Planning Commission left in a five-year “amortization,” requiring compliance within 5 years. Peters said “if the business community does not support it then the Council will not adopt it.” Or existing pole signs could be allowed to be “grandfathered in,” again at the Council’s discretion, but new signs would have to meet the new code limits, if it were approved.

One woman asked about middle ground between a monument sign (preferred by the Commission) and existing 35-foot tall signs. Peters said it could be 25 feet or somewhere in between, but it would again be up to the Council. Peters said she thought seeing a Raley’s sign as you drive into town is distracting from the beauty of the view. She said traffic speed may also help determine locations for signs.

Peters said “it’s never popular for us to enforce rules.” Daly said the Council has “worked hard to establish a city that is business-friendly.”

Maura Gillman, co-owner of Mel & Faye’s Restaurant, said monument signs were ineffective in some areas of Jackson, because lettering was mostly too small to see. Bart Gillman said Mel’s old location was close to the highway, but the new location, far back off the road needs the back-lit signs to “pull people off the highway the best we can.” He said “I think your timing is very bad.” He said he has found that his beer signs are also out of compliance.

Maura thought businesses that operate at night should be allowed to have lit signs, and use timers. One woman suggested a dimmer, but Bart said dimmers don’t work on fluorescent bulbs. Daly said signs could be partly lit.

Maura Gillman said: “I think we’ve established that lit signs are needed” and “anybody that is open at night should be allowed to have” lit signs.

One woman said clutter of banners & temporary signs “annoys the heck out of me,” but she didn’t have a problem with Mel & Faye’s or Jackson Tire’s lit signs.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.