Lights out. For now.听
Owners of a Benvoulin Road farm have been told by city council to unplug an illuminated sign as the eye-catching devices are not allowed in agricultural areas.听
But the citysa国际传媒 bylaws against electronic signs in most areas should be reviewed by staff this winter with a view to potentially allowing them along some busy streets, Mayor Tom Dyas says.听
鈥淚tsa国际传媒 inappropriate for us to swim against staff (on this recommendation) because they鈥檙e just following the rules and the rules weren鈥檛 followed,鈥 Dyas said at Mondaysa国际传媒 meeting. 鈥淏ut I do believe that we may need to look at opening this up and taking a look at what the sign rules are, and have that听听decision completed by next spring.鈥
Satnam Singh Basran and Sucha Singh Sanghera told council neither they nor the company they hired to build the sign at Don-O-Ray Farms were aware that electronic messages were not permitted on farmland.听
Permitting the sign to remain would be a signal council supports farmers, it was suggested, and it was noted how hard it is for farmers to make a living these days.
Some councillors wanted to send the matter to a public hearing but a majority said it was important the citysa国际传媒 prohibition against electronic signs in farmland be upheld.听
鈥淚t warrants going to the public,鈥 Coun. Ron Cannan said. 鈥淚 look at each application on its own merits. I don鈥檛 worry about setting a precedent, otherwise we wouldn鈥檛 do anything if we were afraid of making a decision. I鈥檓 open minded. And I try to listen to the public.鈥
But other councillors echoed staffsa国际传媒 contention that allowing the electronic sign would open the floodgates to similar applications from property owners throughout the city.听
鈥淎 lot of businesses around town would like to have a sign like that,鈥 Coun. Rick Webber said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we want to see a proliferation of electronic signs up and down agricultural roads or even the highway."
鈥淔or us to support this type of sign on agricultural land, it completely undermines our sign policies as a city,鈥 said Coun. Luke Stack.听
Coun. Gord Lovegrove said approving the sign as requested by the farmsa国际传媒 owners would send the wrong message: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to reward folks for going forward without permission.鈥
Only Cannan and Coun. Mohini Singh favoured sending the matter to a public hearing. Singh spoke of the need for the city to support farmers, and she noted city planners are recommending council approve a sign proposed for a new airport hotel thatsa国际传媒 three times bigger than current rules allow.听
The city has rules that prohibit electronic signs in some but not all areas. The city-owned sa国际传媒 Community Theatre does have an electronic sign, as do other properties on land classed as institutional, which usually refers to government-owned properties.
鈥淢ore of this signage proliferating really starts to degrade the urban environment along our streets in sa国际传媒,鈥 top city planner Ryan Smith told council. 鈥淥ne sign may not seem like a big deal but this has the potential to snowball into dozens of requests over the next couple of years.鈥
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