Monday, March 16, 2009
With a sluggish national economy, every aspect of local business has to be on alert too. The Steamboat Springs sign code officials recently met with downtown business owners to discuss how added signage for businesses off of Lincoln Avenue could best be put into effect.
Currently, the use of sandwich boards and other temporary signage leading visitors to visit off-Lincoln businesses is prohibited. The issues at hand seem to be both the obvious change in look to downtown as well as added sidewalk clutter. The point was made that, if allowed, every business off Lincoln Avenue would put out a sandwich board, rendering these added signs ineffective and create negative impacts to pedestrians.
There seemed to be some contentious moments when struggling business owners off of Lincoln Avenue made a desperate plea for added signage to help their struggling walk-by traffic. From the news reported, many business owners are ferociously trying to hang on to current sales and stay afloat in what seems to be a slower local economy.
There’s no doubt that some downtown businesses are worried about their future survival, but the City staffers aren’t ready to change sign codes just yet. The meeting seemed to take a favorable turn when Mark Scully of Green Courte Partners, which owns Howelsen Place, proposed to have his signage consultant mock up some drafts on what added signage might look like. His preferred sign company, ASI-Modulex, seems to have some experience in the matter and Mr. Scully seemed confident that they could help find a solution.
Only time will tell if the City sign ordinance will change in favor of downtown businesses operating off Lincoln Avenue. Tracy Barnett, manager of Mainstreet Steamboat Springs, seems enthusiastic about keeping the talks alive.
