FAYETTEVILLE — Butch Thomas knows a thing or two about signs after owning his businesses for 31 years.
“Your best advertising is always word of mouth, but your second best advertising is always your sign,” said Thomas, who owns two pawn shops and a bail bond business. “You want to have something that someone gets attracted to.”
Thomas said the city’s regulations for business signs are too restrictive. The city Planning Commission discussed a new type of sign Monday that could be available to business owners, if approved by the City Council.
Since August, city planners have worked to amend sign regulations. Residents or business owners sometimes have difficulty understanding sign ordinances, city planner Jesse Fulcher said.
City ordinance allows for seven types of signs. The more popular ones businesses have used since 2003 are monument and pole signs.
Monument signs have a larger surface area and are low to the ground. Pole signs are much higher but have smaller surface areas. The new type is labeled a “ground-standing” sign, which could be considered a halfway point between the monument and pole, Fulcher said.
A monument sign can be no taller than 6 feet and its entire base is fixed to the ground, according to city ordinance. Monument signs can be placed 10 feet from the right of way or street. The display surface can be up to 75 square feet.
Pole signs can be up to 40 feet tall but have to be set back farther from the street. Pole signs can be up to 40 feet from the street, Fulcher said. The surface area for most is 15 square feet.
However, business owners must follow certain equations to determine the height of the pole sign and the surface area, Fulcher said.
Ground-standing signs, if approved by the City Council, could be up to 10 feet tall but set back from the street 20 feet. The surface area would remain at a maximum 75 square feet.
Fayetteville planners approved slightly more monument signs than pole signs since the city began keeping electronic records.
“My information indicates that 130 monument signs and 100 pole signs have been approved in Fayetteville since 2003,” city planner Dara Sanders said.
Thomas, who owns both monument and pole signs, says signs in Fayetteville are too small.
“Fayetteville is so restrictive compared to Rogers or Springdale and the adjoining towns,” Thomas said. “It has discouraged a lot of business ... I'm not just some total anarchist on the side, but they are very restrictive. I think they ought to look at the other towns and see what they’ve done.”