The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
June 5
A major chunk of time Tuesday night was spent discussing the current city ordinance regarding signs. This was precipitated by requests by two homeowners,
Starlette McHale and Norm Runyon. They both appeared at the BOA and stated their issues during Public Comments. Ms McHale has a unique circumstance caused by the Barry Road redo, real estate signs positioned on the KCMO right of way have been removed (presumably by KCMO officials, leaving her with not many options to advertise her home. She currently has a large banner hung from her house. The Runyons dilemma is a bit different, they live basically on a dead end street and their "For Sale" sign cannot be seen from the connecting street. Thus, after a long and somewhat convoluted discussion, the BOA voted to amend the city ordinance to allow pointer/directional signs (2). Watch for them to pop up in your neighborhood soon.
This is a continuation of a theme the BOA has embraced in recent years, trying to please everyone without keeping the greater good and majority in mind. It makes for bad legislation, and bad policy. The unintended consequences may actually increase the issues of compliance and enforcement...the Police Department and City Attorney can only watch as the BOA plods along.
The BOA is not finished with the issue.
Vic for one sees no reason to have a
15 foot requirement for setback of signs and
Mary is right there with him. All they need is one more vote on the BOA/Mayor and it is a done deal.
There are a number of ways to deal with the problems McHale and Runyon face. Changing the city ordinance to accommodate them, in my opinion, should be the last option.
5 comments:
So, it's OK for Grass Pad signs to be displayed all over the city, but not for residents to try and sell their houses.
I'd be interested, Mike, in your ideas for alternative solutions. You failed to list any in your comments.
As a neighbor and friend of Starlette's I wish I had known about the discussion Tuesday night. Is her sign visible from the street? Yes, that's the point of it. Does it harm my property value? Only if I'm trying to sell my house at the same time. Otherwise, it is to my benefit to have her home sell at as high a price as possible. Is the sign unprofessional? No. Is it unsightly? No. It's visible.
We live in a small community. The advantage we have is that we can engage directly with our leaders. There are, of course, advantages and disadvantages to this (we tend to take things we disagree with personally and assume that things we agree with are reasonable and rational.)
Getting a variance in an open session where we all have the opportunity to listen/participate is *exactly* the right way to do this. I couldn't disagree with your point more.
I recently sold a property in NKC. I had a yard sign as well as an open house. The agent had the listing on the internet. I don't know of any real interest I got from somebody who saw the sign and stopped. The open house was a waste, just nosy neighbors and non-qualified people. The buyer saw the listing on the net, called the agent, made an appointment, sold. Did anybody on the council ask how important these signs are? My opinion highly overrated, I wouldn't change a thing about our sign ordinances.
1:56pm... That question was asked about the net. Hoy and Bos blow it off. Said signs were more important.
Speaking of signs . . . the city hall sign looks choppy. Could have been more streamlined? Maybe the finished product will be different.
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