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I knew if I waited long enough it would be possible to write about a topic that has annoyed me for years --- the proliferation of signs in Cobourg. This visual pollution, a blight upon good taste and a constant minefield for all politicians that try to control the problem. The image of an angry Councilor John Lindsay rearing up in a politicians full flight of pomposity, just like a Caribbean blow fish, bellicosely telling a petitioner not to "blackmail him with the prospect of losing twenty jobs!" was just too vivid not to mention. What had prompted this imagery? The morning news that Cobourg Council had discussed the newly minted "sign bylaw". The owner of the newly renovated "Cobourg Jail" appeared, before Council, to complain about the treatment he had received over his attempt to erect signs at his establishment. Being accused of not having sign permits for 13 signs he naturally spoke to ask for an exemption: after all everybody gets one, don't they? Well apparently not this time. The council committee of the whole, in one of its first tests of the latest edition of the "sign bylaw" decided to maintain its [the bylaw] integrity and quickly learned why no sign bylaw has ever remained intact after the first application for an exemption.
Cobourg's attempts to control the proliferation of signs have been by means of a "sign bylaw" for years. It has been rewritten at least three times in the last fifteen years. Councillor Pepper had a go at it in the 80's and then it was Councillor Lindsay's turn (he did give it to Joann Loken for three years). He has been on Council for NINE years and has been working on the sign bylaw for most of that time. So I guess he got a little testy when somebody decided to point out the flaws in it. Mr Lee spoke to Council for about 25 minutes, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to all of it (I obtained a tape of it) as it mirrors what I have been thinking for years. The law is unfair, unenforceable and subject to interpretations of style and taste. Quickly can anybody tell me the difference between a "facia sign" and a "banner"? And Mr Lee ably put the Council on the spot when he highlighted the obvious example of the sign problem by comparing the canopy that surrounds a large downtown hardware store, on both sides, as well as its large facia sign to his signs; signs that blend into the paint work and are tucked up into the eave area. As to Mr Lee's illegal free standing signs that hide an electrical transformer are they any more illegal than the storefront advertising caused by half of the hardware parking lot being covered with merchandise.
The problem with any piece of legislation is that once an exemption is granted you don't have a coherent and integral policy anymore. For years any body who is anybody in the "franchise world" has been able to ask for, and get, an exemption to our bylaw. McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Tim Horton's and other nationwide enterprises that use uniform signs came to learn that Cobourg's bylaw did not fit their standard sized signs. And the result has been the absolute blanketing of our streets with "visual pollution" our eyes are assaulted every where we go. Facia signs, banner signs, freestanding signs, portable signs and even inflatable signs. It is so bad, as Mr Lee pointed out even garbage cans are signs when you slap a logo on them. My selection for "absolute offensiveness" is the building at the corner of Division and Elgins streets. This building used to be the home of "SciCan Scientific" but has been subdivided into many smaller enterprises, each one with at least two signs larger than the maximum size allowed and what part of the building is not signed has banners attached, it is a mess and should be cleaned up!
It is probably time to cry uncle and let reason govern. The average person knows how to recognise excess signage, they may not agree whether to regulate it, and how, but they will acknowledge when signs overpower. My suggestion: form a jury of 12 people off the street and poll them. Their answer would be binding: democracy in action!
An
Exemption to this!