There are signs pointing to change in billboard regulations for Mount Airy, and until that occurs no more can be installed in the city limits.
The Mount Airy Board of Commissioners has given the nod to a moratorium on new billboard installations, after a discussion on the issue at the urging of board member Shirley Brinkley.
“I’m just concerned,” Brinkley said during a meeting last week regarding the proliferation of large signs in the municipality, specifically citing the business corridor on U.S. 601 between Walmart and U.S. 52.
Though that is a distance of only about a mile, Brinkley estimates there are at least 50 signs along the way, suggesting that a saturation point has been reached.
“I would like for us to stop some of these signs,” she said. “They’re beginning to be everywhere.”
“There’s actually a term for it — sign clutter,” said city planner Andy Goodall, who briefed the board on existing sign regulations during the meeting.
“Is there a minimum or a maximum that is going to continue to go up” Brinkley said of the growth, “or is this a good stopping point?”
Goodall will be part of an effort to examine existing city rules on signs as a whole, including asking the question how much is too much?
“I would like to have the planning board look at this and come up with some suggestions,” said Goodall, who acts as a city staff adviser to that group.
In the meantime, the moratorium on billboards temporarily will keep more from being installed. It prevents a rush on billboard permit applications if word of possible tighter restrictions gets out among businesses installing the large signs, given that those already in place would be grandfathered.
“I can use that as a tool,” Goodall added of the billboard moratorium.
He mentioned that there are specialty companies, usually located in cities such as Charlotte, which install billboards in communities around the state.
It was noted at the meeting that Mount Airy’s billboard regulations are more lenient than in other communities, requiring a $200 fee and meeting certain distance requirements that seem fairly liberal.
“It’s very easy to get a permit to do this,” the planner said of sign installations, which are restricted to commercial areas zoned for highway business, such as U.S. 52 and U.S. 601.
He suggested that re-examining the rules is a timely endeavor, given the growth of signs. This matter also has been addressed recently by Surry County officials.
A vote to initiate the moratorium was 4-1, with Commissioner Steve Yokeley dissenting.
Board Appointments
Also at the meeting, appointments were made to city advisory boards.
• Jennie Lowry and Nick Patel were appointed to three-year terms on the city Tourism Development Authority (TDA) which will expire on Jan. 15, 2019. They will replace two members ineligible for reappointment, Trudy Willard and Ben Webb.
The TDA’s makeup requires representation from various facets of the tourism industry. Patel will represent the taxable tourist accommodations segment, and Lowry, an official of the Downtown Business Association, as someone with experience in the promotion of travel and tourism.
Commissioner Yokeley was appointed as a city council representative to the TDA, to a one-year term, and city Finance Officer Pam Stone for the same period as an ex-officio, non-voting member.
• Bill Rountree and Dr. John Crane were appointed to the city Cemetery Trustees Board, and Bill Beamer was reappointed to that group. Rountree and Crane are replacing members who elected not to seek reappointment, former Mayor Jack Loftis and Andy Hennis.
Rountree and Crane were appointed for four-year terms ending on Jan. 30, 2020, and Beamer to a four-year term ending Nov. 1, 2019.
The cemetery board oversees operations at the city-owned Oakdale Cemetery.
Tom Joyce may be reached at 336-415-4693 or on Twitter @Me_Reporter.
