How long does a Grand Opening last? When a business celebrates its opening, that's a Grand opening; right? And the City recognizes that... Every city is happy to have new businesses opening.
The Woodstock City Code allows a business to announce its Grand Opening with a temporary sign. For the paltry sum of $30.00, a business can post a temporary sign for 21 days. That's a pretty good deal. Hang out your sign. Let passersby know that you are open and ready for business.
What kind of calendar do we have here in Woodstock? Sometimes time passes slowly. Sometimes a day seems like a week. Sometimes, a day repeats itself over and over. Well, pretty soon it will be 21 WEEKS that this sign has greeted motorists on Route 47 in front of Xpert Insurance, near the Shell station. This is clearly a Grand Opening sign and it's clearly a temporary sign. Notice the wooden frame and the sandbags keeping it from blowing away.
From time-to-time I'll make an inquiry at the Code Enforcement office about this sign, and there has been no reply when I have asked to be informed of the Issue Date of the Permit for this sign or when the Permit expires. Could it be that no Permit has been issued?
This sign has been there since at least mid-November, when I first contacted Code Enforcement about it. That's 4 1/2 months. If there is no Permit, then the City should have been acting since November to have the sign removed. Are there any teeth in the Sign Ordinance?
6 comments:
Thanks to Woodstock's Code Enforcement officer, this sign was knocked down first thing this morning.
WOW! THATS AMAZING!!! i bet you feel special now that you have the power to knock down signs. now only if you can get that sign off of the trailer by emerson lofts....
The sign is down but not out. Whoever took the sign down just left it on the ground. Hopefully, Code Enforcement will cite the businessowner on Monday morning. It shouldn't be necessary to beat people over their heads for so long to get compliance.
The cost of Code Enforcement goes way up, when many repeat visits are necessary to gain compliance.
How about only one warning?
How does the cost of code enforcement go way up? The code enforcement officer is paid from 8:00 to 5:00 every day. It doesn't cost more for him to actually do something.
The cost of Code Enforcement goes up when it is necessary to make repeat visits to gain compliance. A kind and gentle approach on the first visit is usually well-received by the person whose property is out of compliance; he might not even know about the law or the Code. But it gets explained to him and documented with a Warning. If the Code Enforcement Officer has to go back, he should write a citation. The time for talking has passed. And, if he writes a citation, it should be prosecuted. I think the City Attorney doesn't like these cases. If he can't win them, he should be advising the City how to structure its Code so that it IS enforceable!
Repeat visits would only cost more if they required extra time taken away from other duties. Believe it or not they do not have to pay the code enforcement officer overtime. If he works from 8-5 and goes back to a certain place every day for a year within his 8-5 workday it costs the same as it would if he were sleeping at his desk. Why would you think that it would cost more for him to actually perform his duties?
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