City Council heard the pleas of 12 vocal business owners and community members who asked for a three-month reprieve from the controversial sign ordinance. But the regulations—which involve warning violating businesses and fining them up to $500 in some cases—will remain in effect.
After hearing the group’s requests at the May 19 meeting for more time to develop a set of signage standards, the business community approves of. The council unanimously agreed to discuss the ordinance in depth at a June 9 study session open to the public.
“We’re reviewing the ordinance, not reconsidering it,” Councilman Perry Woodward said.
A group of business owners and concerned citizens plan on presenting details about their alternative, a self-policing signage system that could, if approved by the council, allow them to retain some forms of outdoor advertising.
“I think they need some time to get that together,” Mayor Don Gage said, of the self-policing plan. “If they’re going to do it, they have to do it right. The whole idea of thing was to clean this town up and some of the signs I’ve seen out there are totally unacceptable.”
In general, signage helps drive business and when those signs are taken away, business suffers, according to Barbara Rubio, who owns Fiesta Auto Insurance on First Street with her husband John. Though the regulations took effect May 7, the Rubios are already reporting a shrinking customer base; they are not the only local business struggling as a result.
Richard Trujillo, owner of Gilroy’s Sign-O-Graphics on Church Street, said potential buyers are steering clear from his business because of the ordinance’s prohibition of A-frame signage, flags and handheld signs.
The ordinance also prohibited balloons and streamers; costumed advertisers, including those who wave at passing cars as an attention-grabber, are banned from standing on public property.
“I’ve had customers who wanted A-frames and banners shy away from previous orders,” Trujillo said. “They said they don’t want them anymore.”
The Rubios organized gatherings of business owners in hopes of developing a business-led alternative to the ordinance after it was passed in a 6-1 vote in March and encouraged the lengthy list of speakers during the council meeting to share their thoughts with Gilroy’s elected officials.
“We already have a plan about how A-frames should look,” Barbara said. “We’re going to talk to small business owners and propose having one A-frame sign out in front. We think restaurants should have the chalkboard-type sign to list specials and boutiques should too.”
In the weeks after the ordinance was passed, the city sent letters to business owners notifying them which signs are no longer allowed within Gilroy’s borders. But specific outreach to the Spanish-speaking business community wasn’t sufficient, numerous speakers said during the council meeting.
Gilroy Unified School District Trustee Dom Payne said he and a group of others who call themselves Project Community contacted Latino business owners by phone to see what kind of outreach city officials conducted during the noticing period.
“When we spoke with them, there wasn’t a lot of comment that they were aware of this ordinance,” Payne said.
“Many Spanish speaking business owners are unaware of how local government works,” Frank Hernandez added. “I would hate to think that our local government is not representing its people and that small business practices do not play a vital role in the planning of this community.”
Councilwoman Cat Tucker acknowledged the lack of outreach to the Latino community and supported the concept of reopening discussion with the public.
“We can’t ignore that (lack of outreach),” Tucker said. “Even though we posted a notice and invited everyone, if they don’t understand English, we need to make the extra effort to reach out to them. They’re still business owners.”
All of Gilroy’s businesses, with the exception of realtors and new car dealerships, must abide by the new regulations or risk hundreds of dollars in penalties.
The city plans on hiring two part-time, temporary employees who will be encouraging compliance with the ordinance over a six-month period. Those two employees, tasked with enforcing the sign ordinance, will cost the city up to $46,914 in total.
Eleanor Villareal, a longtime realtor in Gilroy, said she was watching the council meeting on television when she felt the need to speak.
“I don’t get it. Hire the people who are vital,” Villareal said. “These people are not vital, and they’re a big waste of money.”
While the city works on hiring additional staff to beef up the Community Development Department’s Code Enforcement arm, the Rubios will be going store-by-store across Gilroy, working with business owners to find common ground on an alternative to present to City Council June 9.
“When I drive down the street, everything looks so stale,” Barbara Rubio said. “It’s a different atmosphere now.”
Participation in the public meeting process
Prior to the adoption of the sign ordinance, the city held a series of public meetings over the course of two years through the Sign Ordinance Review Task Force.
Councilman Dion Bracco served as chair of Task Force and Councilman Peter Arellano served as co-chair. Members of the Task Force included members of the business community, from downtown business owners to realtors and car dealership owners, and they got together to hash out an updated ordinance.
The Task Force provided City Council with their recommendations and the council, voting on their recommendation, passed the ordinance. Arellano was the lone dissenting vote during both readings of the sign ordinance, going against the recommendations of the Task Force on which he, on paper, served.
In 2013, Arellano didn’t attend a Task Force meeting, yet since the law took effect, he has been one of the ordinance’s most outspoken critics on city council.
“You now want to come in on the white horse and be the champion of the small business and stand up for all these people,” Woodward said at the May 19 council meeting, addressing Arellano. “Arellano did not attend the meetings. And now, he wants to attack the Task Force recommendations from the meetings he never bothered to go to. That troubles me.”
Arellano pointed the finger back at Woodward.
“We make the decisions here and you agreed with all the task force recommendations,” Arellano said.
“We did,” Gage pointed out. “That’s how we voted. You weren’t there.”
