Mackinac Island Businesses Want Signs Reconsidered
They Say Restrictions Hurt Trade This Summer
By Ryan Schlehuber

Frustration over the city's recently amended sign ordinance was expressed by business owners at Mackinac Island's City Council meeting Wednesday, July 2, as owners argued the new restrictions are having a crippling impact on business.

The hotly debated issue came up when Council discussed Murray Hotel owner Pat Pulte's request for a variance to place a 48-inch-tall freestanding sign in front of his hotel, which also houses a fudge shop, Mexican restaurant, pizza buffet, and a clothing store.

Mr. Pulte's request was tabled after Council heard from at least four other business owners over their discontent with the sign ordinance. Council agreed to review the ordinance again on a committee level. The amendments were passed last summer after two public hearings were held, said Island Mayor Margaret Doud.

The committee intends to discuss the issue further at 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 9.

Mr. Pulte requested that he be given a temporary variance to put a freestanding sign up for the Fourth of July weekend, or until Council makes its decision on the amended ordinance, but he was denied.

Council decided last year to tighten enforcement of the sign ordinance, specifically pertaining to excessive merchandise window displays, freestanding signs on sidewalks, and advertisements on awnings, to meet state fire code regulations, avoid obstruction of traffic on sidewalks, and keep the downtown district from being overwhelmed with advertising of businesses and merchandise.

Council amended its ordinance to allow two advertising signs per business and required freestanding signs to be placed at a minimum of five feet from the edge of a sidewalk and at least 10 feet away from the sidewalk if placed in a yard. If downtown businesses were unable to meet those standards, they were not allowed to use freestanding signs.

"It isn't just sandwich boards; it's easels, grease boards, and cardboard signs that were popping up all over the Island," said City Building Inspector Dennis Dombroski. "Many of them were being placed in front of the entrance doors to the businesses, and that's a fire hazard."

So far this summer, nine citations have been handed out to businesses for violating the sign ordinance. Each citation carries a $110 penalty.

Business owners say because of the close proximity of commercial buildings downtown, blending individual businesses into a long wall of buildings, freestanding signs are vital, especially for what Mr. Pulte calls "impulse businesses."

"With my pizza buffet, one sign isn't cutting it," Mr. Pulte pleaded to Council. "I need more signs."

Since being required to remove his sandwich board from the sidewalk, which he claims is on his own property, Mr. Pulte said he has seen many of his "impulse buyers" disappear.

"This is unreasonable," he said. "You're putting me out of business. I honestly cannot run that business without that sign."

Loretta Spata, who, along with her husband, Tony, owns and operates Martha's Sweet Shop in the Corral Mall on Main Street, is facing a similar hardship.

She was restricted from placing an easel next to the double door entrance to the mall. She said the easel is necessary to advertise lunches because very few people would associate having lunch at a sweet shop.

"We're all trying to comply to the ordinance," she said to Council. "Now we're complying and we're seeing how it's affecting us, and it's not working for us."

Her easel now sits further inside the mall, in a corner.

Village Inn Restaurant operator Ron Dufina said he has seen a loss of 15% in gross revenue since having to remove his sandwich board sign on the corner of Main and Hoban streets that pointed the way toward his establishment on Hoban, after having been fined.

"I don't think it's right," he said.

After listening to some of his fellow commercial business people, Councilman Frank Bloswick, owner of Mackinac Lapidary on Market Street, supported change in the ordinance to relieve business owners, although Mayor Doud reminded him that he approved the amendments to the ordinance last year.

Many restaurants have adapted to the changed ordinance. Places like Seabiscuit Cafe, Horn's Gaslight Bar, Yankee Rebel Tavern, and Sinclair's Irish Pub, as well as several fudge shops, have replaced easels and sandwich boards with a host who greets people outside the entrance.

"I think [the ordinance] is perfectly fine," said Chris Szabo, owner of the Irish Pub and a firefighter for Mackinac Island Fire Department. "I was guilty of putting up signs in front of our entrance myself, but I believe it's true that there is too much stuff in front of doors."

Sinclair's now displays food specials through its front window.

"We've always had a host out there, but we're maximizing that idea now," he said. "It actually works better because the host is more personal and they can give out more information than a sign can."

Dennis Cawthorne, an Island resident and lawyer who was part of a committee that recommended the recent amendments to the sign ordinance, said if Mr. Pulte's request is approved for variance to display one more sign for his business, a freestanding sign, it will lead to more requests.

"If we approve this variance, we'll open the door to 95 more variances like this one," he told Council, after making a rough count of downtown businesses between Marquette Park and Windermere Point.

Mr. Cawthorne explained that the ordinance was amended to promote a more attractive downtown district that every business could benefit from.

"If we over-advertise, then we're cutting into that pie," he said. "I think it's a pro-business ordinance."

City attorney Tom Evashevski advised Council that if it chooses to take another look at the amended ordinance, it should follow the proper procedure with reviewing a law, meaning more public hearings should be scheduled once the ordinance committee makes any recommendations.

"If you seem persuaded to change the ordinance, then you need to go through the same procedure and go back to the drawing board and have public hearings," he said.