Sign ordinance enrages mud race promoter
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?I want to know why it?s OK for real estate agents to have their signs all around town, promoting their business, and I?m asked to move my sign promoting our upcoming mud race,? questioned race promoter Chris Terry after city officials ordered him to move a semi-trailer with a sign advertising his event scheduled for this Saturday night at Hoot N? Holler Farm. ?I have permission from the owner. Heck, a truck with a Lesa Scott sign sat right beside it. Why is it they can put signs up and I can?t??
The truck holding the sign has been moved from the old Sam Shull station across from Hardee?s to Beersheba Street, still in the city limits but outside the historic district. Terry said he was on business in Florida and was called there, telling him his trailer would be towed if it were not moved.
?First of all, we don?t want semi-trucks downtown,? said Regional Planning director Jack Qualls of why Terry was asked to move the truck. ?We want to make downtown tasteful so people will want to move here.?
Qualls noted the sign statutes are written where, even had Terry asked for a permit, he could not receive one given the restrictions. The statutes, which heavily regulate signs in McMinnville and especially in the historic downtown district, do allow realtor signs and election signs.
However, Qualls said a new sign ordinance is being formulated which could impact what kinds of signs are allowed downtown and across the city.
?A sign ordinance is very tough to put together because you have a lot of people with interests of how it is worded,? Qualls said, noting the next meeting of the committee will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday at city hall. ?We are working on the sign code and we will likely be addressing issues similar to this. We?re not only talking about the scenery, we?re also looking at safety issues.?
Terry, who plans to attend the meeting, said he believes the sign law should be made fair to everyone, not just a select few such as candidates and real estate agents.
?It seems almost unconstitutional,? Terry said. ?This isn?t a permanent thing, I?m just trying to advertise an event.?
Terry made headlines back in 1998 when several residents of Viola fought against a mud race in their town, some saying it would bring undesirables while others protested the noise. The controversy divided the town, prompting members of the Viola aldermanic board to resign. The race was held despite the uproar.