Council reverses itself on sign law

~ Cape officials rescinded most of the restrictions enacted earlier this year.

Marcia Ritter summed up the Cape Girardeau City Council's sentiments with one sentence: "It's all been said."

With no public discussion at its Tuesday night meeting, the council unanimously agreed to amend the city's sign ordinance, rescinding most of the restrictions on garage-sale and real-estate signs it had imposed just five months ago.

"It was probably fine-tuning that went too far," Mayor Jay Knudtson said after the meeting. "I feel that we had deviated from what we were trying to do. We finally had to ask ourselves was, what was our true objective? We have to accept that we went too far."

The amendment removes the restrictions in the ordinance on the number of garage-sale signs allowed and the size of the signs. Language limiting the number of garage-sale signs to one on-premise sign during the actual time of the sale was removed, as was a size restriction that would limit the signs to 4 square feet per surface area.

Under the new language, on-premise signs may only be posted beginning the day before the sale and must be removed by the end of the day of the sale.

Off-premise directional signs are only allowed on private property and only with permission of the property owner. Off-site signs must include the address and date of the garage sale being advertised and are subject to the same time restrictions as on-site garage sale signs.

Size limits on real-estate signs were also lifted. Under the amended ordinance, real estate signs advertising the sale of a single residential lot can be placed without limitations on number or size. Real-estate signs directing the public to a property that is for sale can only be placed on private property with the permission of the property owner.

After the new ordinance was passed, there was a huge public outcry from business owners, which several council members said surprised them.

Said Knudtson: "It had become a distraction."

Councilwoman Loretta Schneider was the main proponent of the changes that were made in April. She said she was "a little disappointed" that the amendments had to be made Tuesday night.

Schneider said she still believes that so many signs clutter Cape Girardeau's landscapes and she hopes that the ordinance as amended will be strictly enforced, especially the remaining restriction from such signs on public property.

Not every council member thought the sign ordinance was that big a deal.

"I'd like to see the city focus on more important things than signs," said Councilman John Voss.

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