Perry City Council to vote on new sign ordinance

The City Council is scheduled to vote on a revised sign ordinance Tuesday that would make sign rules uniform throughout the city.

The downtown area currently has a different set of rules that allows businesses to have banners. Under the revised ordinance, businesses throughout the city could have banners on buildings, said City Manager Lee Gilmour. A temporary permit will be required for a free-standing banner.

But there's also an important element of the ordinance that isn't changing. Last year a local car dealer protested when the city cited him for flying American flags from the antennas of cars on the lot.

Gilmour said the ordinance would still prohibit the flying of any type of flag for commercial purposes.

All businesses can fly a flag on a pole in a traditional display, he said, but flags used to draw attention would be a violation of the ordinance, he said.

It's part of a provision aimed at preventing "wind blown" displays, such as flapping character figures, that are considered unsightly.

Part of the reason for the revision was to consider whether any changes were warranted in the section of the ordinance that covered flags, but Gilmour said the decision was made to leave that part intact.

At a public hearing on the ordinance proposal at the Jan. 19 council meeting, retiree Larry Bailey spoke against it.

In an interview with The Telegraph last week, Bailey said he doesn't sell cars but sees nothing wrong with a business putting flags on car antennas.

"In this country right now, patriotism is as low as I've seen it since the Vietnam War," said Bailey, who served in the Air Force during that time. "So why do you not want people to promote business and bring in more business so you have more tax revenue?"

Bailey said he plans to attend Tuesday's meeting for the vote, but there will not be a public hearing on the ordinance at the meeting.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall.

To contact writer Wayne Crenshaw, call 256-9725.

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 8:09 PM with the headline "Perry City Council to vote on new sign ordinance ."