Carbondale Sign

 The city has put a large Carbondale logo across the top of the Robbie Stokes Memorial Stage, complementing the one on the Multi Modal Transport Station. Now to complete the set, they should put the name of the city across the facade of the City Hall/Civic Center

Signs

 With the money Carbondale is putting into bike paths and lanes in the city, I really wish it would spend some money putting up wayfinding signs. Maybe everyone uses their phones and Google maps to find their way around but there is something to be said for installing a sign to let people know something exists. In general, Google Maps is most helpful in helping find the way to a place you are looking for but not so much in pointing out things that you had no idea existed.

Heritage Motel

 I really wish the city or a local organization would approach the Heritage Motel about repairing its sign. It is an icoic 1960s style sign and deserves a long life but is slowly falling apart.

Signs

The Dairy Queen sign has been removed from atop the downtown Dairy Queen building. Purchased by a sign company in Anna so hopefully will go on display. Meanwhile, the sign for the relaunching Booby's , right across from the train station, has arrived and should go up on the building by the end of the month.

Bikes

 Carbondale is a bike friendly community. We are on one of the major cross country bike routes, although I see far fewer cross country bicyclists today than I did 20 years ago. It would certainly be nice if the city acknowledges this with more wayfinding signage for bicyclists, including signs showing them where the repair stations are and how to negotiate through Carbondale while avoiding the heavy traffic on 13.

Bike Signs

 The bike path from the town square to SIUC was finished about 3 years ago, more or less. There is still no sign posted there to draw anyone's attention to it. i realize most people can check such things on their smartphones but it is still difficult to do so while cycling. Also, i fCarbondale wants to develop the image of a bike friendly commnuity , putting up signage indicating bike backs and other amenities would certainly help

Town Square Sign

 I have commented on this before but the sign on the town square directing people to the offices of Carbondale Main Street, the Chamber of Commerce and the Station Carbondale railroad museum could certainly be positioned better.  While quite visibel to anyone driving east on Marion, anyone driving north on Illinois Ave. cannot see it until right in front of it. Even then it is difficult to see unless you are sitting in the passenger's seat. Turning the sign 90 degrees would make it much more useful.

Signage

 Went into a store, not in Carbondale, with an "All Customers must wear masks" sign on the door. Not "Masks suggested" but "required" . Needless to say, none of the staff nor any other customers wore a mask. What bothered me about the situation was not the people not wearing masks but the sign and its lack of enforcement. The place also had "We card hard" and no admittance to the video gaming area by anyone under Age 17 signs posted. If they are not going to enforce their sign posted on the front door, why would anyone expect them to enforce the other signs posted. ?

Political Yard Signs

Apparently 'tis the season for political yard sign abuse. According to an email I received, the Henry campaign says over 90 of its yard signs have gone missing since their placement. The Adams and Kang campaigns have also reported signs missing or damaged, though not in such large numbers.

I also heard, (secondhand) of a landlord requiring a tenant to remove one candidate's signs from the yard, who then replaced them with signs supporting the other candidate. If true, this violated the tenant's 1st amendment rights six ways from Sunday.

Downtown Signage

I was walking up Illinois Avenue and noticed again how poorly designed for current traffic most of the signs along the street are. The majority of them lie flat against the building front, meaning that a potential customer does not see them until they are almost directly in front of the sign. 

This is fine for foot traffic since pedestrians have plenty of time to alter their movement once they see a sign. However automobiles are another matter altogether since the driver only had a couple of seconds to react once they see a sign. Having the sign flush against the building means that the driver is almost right in front of it before seeing it. Using brackets to stick the sign out from the side of the building may increase sign clutter in downtown but also would give the store greater visibility to automotive traffic.

Banners

City council voted to amend the city code last night extending the time  businesses may hang banners outside their buildings from 60 days to 100 days. This applies to off-premises banners as, according to what I have been told, businesses have always been able to hang banners on their buildings for any length, it was free standing banners, such as those staked out alongside a street that violated city code.

Wow, first A-frame signs and now banners!  The city is really loosening up.

Red Tape Blues

Good story in the Economist about the cost of regulation in the US, something like $1.86 trillion a year. Most small businesses complain more about over-regulation than high taxes.  If Carbondale is serious about changing its image to make itself more "business friendly", a good place to start is to work through the revised code and prune regulations, determining which are useful for the well being of the community and which are not.

The problem of course is that you will always find someone to defend every regulation, as no regulation gets passed into law without someone seeing a need for it.

However, there is evidence the city can make changes. Witness the number of new sidewalk signs that have appeared on downtown streets after the regulations affecting them were rewrittten. It took several years to get the rules changes but it did finally happen.

Off Premise Signage

I have wondered for awhile why Kohl's has a off premise sign located along Hwy 13 when the store is located several hundred yards south. According to section 14.5.10.3 of the Carbondale Revised Code, off premises signs are prohibited with no exceptions, unlike moving and temporary signs.

Maybe Kohl's bought the property at the location for the express purpose of erecting a sign? Still, unless the property connects to the Kohl's store property, I would think that would still be considered "off premises". Time for a trip to city hall.

Sandwich Signage

Just received a letter from the city informing me that the placement of A-frame signs in the downtown business district is now allowed per revised ordinance 15-4.10.7.G.  Of course, being a governmental ordinance, it has to get very specific with the sign and its location:  no taller than 3 feet or 2 ' wide, not exceeding a total of six square feet per side, and no three or four sided signs.  The sing must come inside at the close of business, sit no further than 15' from the front door, not impede pedestrian traffic and sit at least 3 and a half feet  from any building, post or obstruction. 

Business owners must now get a permit for each A-frame sign, costing $10 per year, and, if located on aright of way, list the city as an additional insured on the business' insurance certificate.

On a related note, I am glad to see that the ordinance regarding flashing signs has been brought up to date to incorporate electronic message boards, though apparently flashing message boards and signs are still illegal.  See 10.7.E at the link above.

More on Signs

Along with the sandwich board sign ordinances, which may be taken up by city council later this fall, Carbondale does have some specific standards in place regarding sign upkeep:

15-2G-12: CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR SIGNS:

A. The construction and maintenance performance standards for signs contained in the international building code as adopted as part of section 4-1-1 of this code shall be the performancestandards for the construction and continual maintenance of signs regulated by this article unless otherwise specified in this article. (Ord. 88-81; amd. Ord. 2003-72)

B. All components of a sign shall be kept clean, in good repair and free from all electrical and mechanical hazards, including, but not limited to, faulty wiring, loose connections, missing or broken panels, etc.

 C. Signs and their support structure(s) shall be painted when necessary to prevent corrosion or to replace peeling or flaking paint.

 D. Any sign in violation of the construction and maintenance performance standards shall be repaired or removed within thirty (30) days after written notice from the administrative official. The notice to repair or remove the sign shall be served on the owner, agent or person having the beneficial use of the property upon which the sign is found.

 E. Any person who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses to comply with the order of the administrative official to repair or remove the sign shall be in violation of this section. In addition to the penalties provided for in section 15-2J-5 of this chapter, the administrative official is hereby authorized to make application to the courts for an injunction requiring compliance with this code ordering the repair or removal of the sign. (Ord. 88-81)

Based my reading of the above, it appears that the signs below are in violation of the ordinance. Thanks to a blog reader for sending these along.

Sandwich Signs

The sandwich board signs that stood on the sidewalk advertising Esther's Clothing and La Unica Bakery have vanished.  I checked with City Planner Chris Wallace and found that the problem is they are both located on Highway 13, which is controlled by the Illinois Department of Transportation, as is Highway 51.  Ergo, any business located along Main or Walnut Streets heading east and west or the north and south bound University and Illinois, that does not have a setback from the sidewalk, must get an easement from IDOT or remove the sign.  The city can grant easements on side streets, which is why the Newell House finally managed to keep its sidewalk sign out, at least according to Wallace, by moving its sign around the corner onto Washington and getting an easement from the city.