Mr. Gardner Sounds Off on Signs of Business
In the interest of clarity and fairness I would like to offer the following observations and corrections to "Signs of Business":
"A restauranteur on Shop Row told us that for the 3 1/2 days he was forced to remove his sandwich board sign…." - The restaurateur on Shop Row was not forced to remove his sign from the sidewalk. In fact, his sign remained on the sidewalk in front of his business for the 3-1/2 days referenced. He was simply asked to remove his sign from public property as per Easthampton Zoning Bylaw section 10.04, f. "No commercial or political private sign shall be permitted on a public property".
"Derrick and this restauranteur both told us of another dining establishment in Easthampton, which because of its obscure location, was almost forced to close because of it's loss of revenue in the 3 _ days it sandwich board sign was absent from its usual spot. Even though this restaurant is hidden behind other buildings, the sandwich board sign out on the sidewalk is enough to remind people of its presence and its specialties." - I think it would be more fair and above board to point out that the "usual spot" for this sign is in the street, not on the sidewalk.
"Even the sudden enforcement of Zoning Ordinance, section 10 Additional Land Use Regulations sub-section 10.0 Signs, seems arbitrary. On Main Street, several businesses leasing/renting privately owned businesses space had been forced to remove their sandwich board signs, while just down the street in Old Town Hall businesses leasing/renting space entirely on city property were still using theirs." - Again, no businesses were forced to remove their sandwich board signs. They were asked to remove them from public property. To my knowledge, all such signs remained on display on the sidewalks within the perceived private property boundaries of the businesses involved. This is not about sandwich board signs per se, but rather the placing of private signs on public property without license or permission. The sign you are referring to that, to you, exemplifies arbitrary enforcement is owned by a business that rents or leases space at that location and therefore has the right to use the property in the same way other renters/leasers of business properties are allowed. If this sign were placed on the curb I would ask the business owner to pull it back to within the boundaries of the property he pays to use.
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