”
Sign, sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign …
”
“Sign, sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign …”
We’ll give you the answer to the trivia question, “Which band recorded those popular lyrics in the 1970s?” at the end.
Right now we’re concerned with the ugly proliferation of street signs popping up all over town.
The situation is out of control.
Gilroy is beginning to resemble the kitchen junk drawer that nobody has cleaned in 10 years – and we’d better do something about it pronto.
Visual junk mail is everywhere. There are ugly signs hanging from the sides of buildings. There are ugly signs in street medians, in the middle of sidewalks, on street lamps and on corners stacked together like blubbering bowling pins.
What’s next? Maybe the local furniture hawker will hang a banner across Leavesley Road? Or an enterprising business owner could have someone paint a sign on the side of a freeway overpass.
The truth is that the business signs are becoming a form of graffiti. Is that what we want for Gilroy’s image – a cluttered, junky heap of signs on every street corner? In some cases the signs are right in front of the business which, of course, has a sign on it.
It’s time for the City Council to step forward and re-write the sign ordinance to ban the vast majority of these eyesores before Gilroy becomes known not as a Tree City USA but as an Ugly City USA.
We’re bombarding citizens and visitors alike with a ludicrous amount of unnecessary visual junk mail. And though Gilroy has made a living by bowing to the alluring sales tax dollar, enough is enough.
It’s simply not good business to turn our city into a junkyard for signage. It’s an image that portrays a city in decline and decay – and that’s not the case in Gilroy.
There are better, more effective ways to make a business attractive to customers. Improving building signage is a good start and making a welcoming entrance – one without a bunch of signs blocking the way – is another.
Perhaps the Council can ask for the Chamber of Commerce’s help regarding this issue. Clearly, the greater good will be served by an ordinance that is restrictive and enforced. A warning or two, followed by a ticket, then the confiscation of the sign would likely do the trick.
The city’s current policy is worthless. It requires someone to complain about the sign and then the business owner might get a slap on the wrist. Let’s be realistic, hardly anyone is going to take the time and trouble to complain.
We want our city to be known as an attractive place for commerce. If the current hands-off, eyes-shut policy continues, Gilroy will lose more than its charm – it will lose business. Do we really want the lyrics from the Five Man Electrical Band’s one hit to stain our city’s future.
