01/26/2015
When you walk along our city's picturesque main street, you can't help but be struck by the eclectic mix of unique shops and stores. Equally stark is the dramatic difference in the signs that attempt to attract shoppers into those venues.
Frankly, they run the gamut from garish to spectacular. There are beautiful and intricate hand-made signs to simple, crude signs that seem out of place in our heritage-themed downtown.
While there has long been a sign bylaw that guides merchants and is meant to serve as a blueprint for what's acceptable and what's not, there is widespread misunderstanding of the regulations and, seemingly, an uneven application and enforcement of the bylaw.
That has drawn the ire of Bob Burnett. After the bylaw police told him his white, adhesive door sign was unacceptable, he re-worked the design, incorporated what he dubbed a "Victorian heritage theme", changed it to a cream-coloured hue and proudly re-applied the Burnett's Buy & Sell lettering - only to be told it didn't meet the bylaw's requirements.
Facing a fine and feeling bitter, he scraped off the lettering this week. "I'm irked about this," Burnett told The Packet & Times. "There are a lot of stores really struggling downtown." His point is that merchants have other things they'd like to be concentrating on.
Burnett's situation shines the spotlight on a major problem for downtown merchants - one that must be addressed. Newly-minted city councillor Sarah Thompson-Valiquette, co-owner of downtown restaurant Era 67, like many other merchants, has long recognized the problem.
With that in mind, at the first council meeting of this term, she asked her colleagues to support a bid to review the issue. She wants the Downtown Orillia Management Board, of which she's a former chair, and the city's economic development office to work together to create an information package for potential new businesses along with downtown landlords looking to rent vacant store space.
Citing the sign bylaw specifically, Thompson-Valiquette suggested such a package should outline the city's downtown facade-improvement program and educate owners and renters about "how essential it is that they conform to the heritage bylaws."
The whole goal, she said, is to make it as easy as possible for the business owner. "You want that business owner to be excited to be opening their business downtown, not PO'd," she said. "When you're opening a business, it can be overwhelming."
The bottom line is the bylaw in place currently, and the enforcement of the bylaw, is confusing and upsetting to many downtown merchants. It either needs to be applied uniformly and unilaterally - to small shops and large franchises - or not at all.
Whether it's an education program, a bylaw review or a welcome package - or all of the above - work needs to be done. It's quite obvious the status quo is not working.
- Dave Dawson
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