Ho hum. Another year comes and goes and the Town Council grants yet another sunset clause extension for A-frame signs and banners in town.

But wait! Santa Claus came a little bit early for local businesses, as the council donned the Kris Kringle suit and actually gave out a three-year extension for A-frames and temporary banners.

While we understand the council’s reluctance to permanently give up control over such signs, at this point we don’t think it would matter too much. The council this past year severely watered down the sign ordinance in this regard, magically increasing the compliance rate in the business community.

While we agree with the argument that A-frames and banners can be helpful to a business – depending on its location, visibility and the like – excessive use of such signs can cause a community to look cluttered and unattractive.

Most of the current violations occur on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, the days when the Town of Fountain Hills does not have a person on duty to look for these types of infractions. We certainly can’t advocate adding a position or paying overtime to patrol on these days, but it’s also too bad a better system can’t be worked out. Such events as weekend garage sales and real estate open houses only add to the proliferation of this problem.

The Town Council feels this is one major way of being “business friendly,” but we’re not totally convinced this is the best manner in which to be friendly to businesses.