Sign ordinance discussion

On Thursday night in the County Commissioners meeting hall in Milton, over two dozen business owners, business leaders, and interested citizens attended  a Local Planning Board public-input workshop regarding an overhaul of countywide on-premise signs ordinances.

The Local Planning Board, an appointed citizenry panel that makes recommendations to the County Commissioners, heard comments from 13 speakers, 11 of whom were in opposition to the proposed signage regulations.

By all accounts, the meeting raised questions that need further investigation.

"We got good input," said Jack Bonney, newly elected Planning Board chairman. "We heard about a lot of areas that we hadn't considered. We're looking forward to hearing from the various communities' chambers of commerce in the near future. Tonight, we got a balance of input from people who use businesses and from the businesses themselves."

As a result, the Board decided to have yet another public forum on the issue at their March 11th meeting. It is still undecided whether or not a vote of recommendation will be taken at the end of that meeting.

"I believe some (board members) were listening to us," observed Holley-Navarre's Ira Mae Bruce, owner of C21 Island View Realty. "Some have their minds set that they want the changes being proposed. I don't think we changed some minds, but I think we opened some minds."

For more on this story, see the Jan. 21 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.

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