City proposes guidelines for buildings, signs

Complaints about the appearance of businesses, like this one at the corner of Elm Street and North Main Street, have the city council considering amending the city's sign ordinance. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Shelbyville's city council will vote next week on an amendment to the city's sign ordinance that would address what some consider unsightly buildings occupied by Hispanic merchants.

Mayor Wallace Cartwright said he has been hearing many concerns from residents and businesses about the appearance of local Hispanic establishments in Shelbyville and wants to alter the city's ordinance to say that signs can not be painted on buildings, among other changes.

Cartwright listed several examples of Hispanic-owned businesses that would fall into that category.

"The main streets are beginning to look like Mexico in Shelbyville," councilman Lee Roy Cunningham said.

The mayor also said he wanted another topic addressed in the ordinance -- dealing with the color of the buildings in question, suggesting that they be painted in "an earth tone ... we don't need this yellow, purple and pink."

"This is not Mexico and I think some way or other, we need to tone it back down," Cartwright said.

Not every brightly-colored business in Shelbyville over the years has been Hispanic-owned, however.

Councilman Al Stephenson said that if an ordinance is drawn up, "we'll pass it."

City manager Ed Craig said the topic has been looked into and he explained that the existing ordinance currently defines what a sign is, but does not say it can be painted on a building.

A sign on a business can't take up more than 20 percent of the surface area, Craig explained. Examining ordinances of other towns, one idea would be to regulate the size of signs that are attached to buildings, he said.

"The first question you have to answer is 'what is a sign' and must it be on a building, and if it can, how much space can it take?" Craig said.

Another question Craig said would need to be addressed is how to define the 20 percent -- is it to be for one sign, or several spread across the surface of the building?

Planning and codes director Kip Green told the council he would write the amendment to the sign ordinance "however you want it," but also said the definition in the amendment "would be very technical."

"Case law is pretty stiff in that area," Green said. He said whatever the ordinance would say, it would go into effect when the building or business ownership changes hands.

Stephenson compared the issue to one the city dealt with in the 1990s with portable flashing yellow signs that were popular at the time, but considered an eyesore.

Luci Taylor, a leader in the local Hispanic community, said she believes that local Hispanic merchants would be amenable to changes and would comply with design rules if they are communicated clearly.

"They are very blessed to live in this community," said Taylor. "They know that."

Taylor is active in El Centro Latino.