Signs coming down right now on 98.
Bad Signs for South Walton
- Thread starter Jenksy
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Do you know who is taking them down, Kurt? Maybe the owners? Today the one on CR283 looked like the owners of some of the panels might have removed them.
No I don't. I saw a pickup at 283 and the top 2 panels were off. I wasn't sure if they were removing or replacing. But at 395 all panels were off and posts were still up.
This is so frustrating. As I recall, the whole sign ordinance issue was born to prevent our area from becoming over cluttered with eyesores. Business owners have unfairly suffered for too long. I certainly don't think we need to line the roads with billboards but it is about time that the county and state come up with something that works and stick to it because changing the rules every five minutes has not been working either. Businees owners deserve the right to put up a reasonable and tasteful sign. They pay for a licence and they pay taxes and the best they can do for a sign is to stick a banner to a car or trailer. Thank you Sara Comander for standing up for local business! If Walton County wants to encourage business, they need to start acting like it. I have run a couple of businesses here over the years and frankly, if my family was not here, I would have moved years ago to a more business friendly neighborhood. Over the last year, I have looked into opening or purchasing four different businesses. I have found the the rules make it way to hard to be successful.
I spoke with county planning and was told that the county is not taking down any of the community directory signs. Also the county got DOT to agree not to take down any signs as they had said they would do if they were not removed by yesterday. According to planning, DOT has agreed to a 30-day extension before anything happens with the signs. That will allow for more notice and for the the businesses, the county and DOT to work to resolve the issue. Have tried to get in touch with DOT also but have not heard back from them.
Thanks! What I saw must have been miscommunication somewhere or maintenance.
Several months ago, I contacted the appropriate people to have a sign added to the directory sign at the end of 83. It was approved, or so I thought it was. So I moved forward with a local sign company (who printed several of the other signs). I paid $160+ and was told that my sign would be up the next day. Several days went by and still no sign. I called, texted, emailed. Still nothing. Finally I reached the person who was going to install the sign. They told me that another business came and put up a sign in the spot that was available, before they could install my sign. Then they told me that they were sorry, but they could not refund my money. (Uh, no way...I finally worked this out with the owner and ended up using it as a store credit!)
Loooong story short...we never were able to put up a sign. I called the county and several others who told me that all businesses on those signs were in violation and would be asked to remove their individuals signs in the coming months. I asked why, after 10 years, did they have to do this and they explained to me that it was a DOT thing. And several other reasons that, honestly, made no sense! They also mentioned that any business that was in a "complex" was to put up one general sign to direct customers to all of the shops.
We opened our business on 30A in BMB over a year ago. We could have really used some traffic from 98 to help boost our growth. Small businesses need options. Not saying a handout, but just honest options. When our businesses thrive, so does 30A/SRB/Walton County. We are a local family who owns several small businesses. I promise you that every bit of our profit is poured back into our beloved town. But we cannot continue to operate successfully with strict rules, unfair actions and little support. Making money only the 4-5 busy months out of an entire year is honestly very difficult. As simple as it sounds, traffic from 98 really would make a difference and the signs there only help send those people to our stores!
We, too, want to open up another business along 30A. But the way things are going, it doesn't look like we will anytime soon. Instead of focusing on issues that have been overlooked for years, how about help keep the businesses open on 30A/surrounding areas. Geez!
Loooong story short...we never were able to put up a sign. I called the county and several others who told me that all businesses on those signs were in violation and would be asked to remove their individuals signs in the coming months. I asked why, after 10 years, did they have to do this and they explained to me that it was a DOT thing. And several other reasons that, honestly, made no sense! They also mentioned that any business that was in a "complex" was to put up one general sign to direct customers to all of the shops.
We opened our business on 30A in BMB over a year ago. We could have really used some traffic from 98 to help boost our growth. Small businesses need options. Not saying a handout, but just honest options. When our businesses thrive, so does 30A/SRB/Walton County. We are a local family who owns several small businesses. I promise you that every bit of our profit is poured back into our beloved town. But we cannot continue to operate successfully with strict rules, unfair actions and little support. Making money only the 4-5 busy months out of an entire year is honestly very difficult. As simple as it sounds, traffic from 98 really would make a difference and the signs there only help send those people to our stores!
We, too, want to open up another business along 30A. But the way things are going, it doesn't look like we will anytime soon. Instead of focusing on issues that have been overlooked for years, how about help keep the businesses open on 30A/surrounding areas. Geez!
There isn't much in this world that is a right but, local laws should balance the interest of businesses and residents. In our area the success or failure of the two are extremely intertwined. Businesses do not deserve to put any kind of sign anywhere they want but the do deserve the right to have them. I suspect almost any one who has owned a small business in this area understands that signage is 100% essential. I also do not think that the white signs in question are exactly beautiful but they are not an eyesore. I would, however, like to see rules that give the business room to express the charachter of the biz. A bunch of matching signs don't give the potential customer much to go on. I suspect that they are barely noticed. To be clear, I do not want a cluttered mess up and down the road but we have to step up from the sterile and bland and ineffective thing we have going now. Better signage truly can make a measurable difference to any small business, especially start ups. If we don't give biz owners an ordinance that they can work with we will just see more sandwich boards and banners and home made signs posted on trucks and trailers in parking lots. We need business and business needs signs.