Signage Issues Continue to Cause Confusion

At the last Marco Island Planning Board meeting you might have looked around to see if a songwriter named Les Emmerson might have been sitting out in the audience. Most folks wouldn’t remember his name or even the name of the Five Man Electrical Band that made the song famous. I’m sure however, most of us that lived through that era would remember the lyrics that went with their hit song, “Signs, Signs Everywhere a Sign.”

It was all part of the turbulent times of the ‘70s and sprang from the experience that Les Emmerson had as he drove along U.S. Route 66 in California in the ‘60s. His exposure to the highway clutter of signage on that historic highway and some of the content of those messages was the genesis of his idea for a song that he would write and later have released in 1971.

The Planning Board’s interest in signs was not at all related to such purity of thought. Over a year ago a city councilor reacted to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on signs and propelled the community into a major rewrite of the city’s sign ordinance. The issue brought about by the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court was a simple one; governmental bodies could not regulate signage according to its content but must stay content neutral.

That would see the issue referred to the city’s Planning Board for a review and the subsequent referral to the city’s legal counsel for their review and recommendations.

That revised document would then come back before city staff and eventually the Planning Board for public hearings. City council would have the entire packet brought to them and they would word-smith the document in response to several complaints by outside influences.

One of those issues dealt with signage in the right-of-way, and both boards chose to leave the wordage much as it was initially. This was an area that the legal counsel had strongly suggested to not be allowed, due to the exposure of complaints and enforcement issues.

Although the Planning Board understood legal counsel’s concerns, heavy influence was applied to both the Planning Board and the City Council. The final product that would emerge would see signage allowed in the right-of-way for 12 hours a day and would require they be removed at the end of each day.

Councilor Victor Rios would resurface the subject earlier this year due to complaints that he said he had received. The issue would subsequently be reviewed again by legal counsel and the planning staff. The Planning Board would be presented with a number of changes to the documents, but many of those changes would bring about more questions, and not less, during their October meeting.

“This entire issue is like pulling on a loose string on a piece of clothing; you’re not really sure where it will end or the unintended consequences of the initial action,” said Ron Goldstein, Chairman of the Planning Board.

It was suggested by staff and counsel that the document be referred back to them and brought back to the board possibly in December, after some of the concerns raised were addressed. The board will meet again on the first Friday in November and December at 9 AM in Council Chambers.