I am writing to commend Council Member Gerry Friedel for his civil and professional debate at the May18 council meeting while discussing the unnecessary new sign ordinance initiative. The response to his questions at the meeting by Councilmembers McMahon and Scharnow were dismissive and an attempt to discredit him on valid questions regarding the proposal.
It appeared clear to me that the Mayor Dickey and the three other council members who voted to pass the much more restrictive regulations on our business community had decided before the meeting that they were going to pass the new rules. You can watch the meeting online and decide for yourself. It’s posted on the Town website.
At the meeting I spoke out against the new regulations and made a passionate request to council to table the discussion, allow for more outreach to the business community and delay any possible action until 2022. After the last year of COVID restrictions, I felt that the timing of these new restrictions was very poor.
When I was on council, I recommended sign ordinance enforcement be delayed through the end of 2020 in an effort to help support our business community. The council should have voted at the May 18 meeting to table discussion, as I recommended, and continue to allow businesses to be creative in an effort to recover from a devastating year.
I am pleased now, after a month of community and business backlash, the mayor and her supporters on council came to the realization what they voted for was wrong. They should have tabled the decision and taken the appropriate time to evaluate the ramifications of the ordinance, as I recommended. We need pro-business council members and need to stop the unnecessary restrictions on local business immediately. Support business, increase revenues.
