City Targets Sandwich Boards

Small business owners and the city are bickering over sandwich board signs common to the North Side’s older business districts.

Shop owners say the signs are a throwback to the days before neon and an inexpensive way for small business to catch customers’ attention.

“It’s a quaint old tradition - that’s probably been illegal for decades,” code enforcement office supervisor John Henry said.

The city says the signs - when placed on public sidewalks - obstruct drivers’ views and endanger pedestrians. Henry has mailed letters to about 25 business owners who had placed signs along Garland Avenue, Ruby Street and North Division. The letters warn business owners to get their signs off the sidewalks or lose them.

Mark Morse, owner of Music World, 1215 N. Division, is angry.

“What right do they have to tell me what I can do with my sandwich board?” he asked.

Ernie Hills, manager of Quality Auto Painting, 2417 N. Division, wonders why the city is making a big deal about small, well-kept signs.

Lots of shop owners didn’t know that sandwich boards violated city code, which requires that such signs be placed on private property.

“In some places the sidewalks get kind of narrow,” Henry said. “If you’ve got 5 feet of sidewalk and 4 feet of sign, how would you like that?”

The city started cracking down on sandwich board signs last summer after the Division-Ruby corridor opened. At that time, many Division Street shop owners put sandwich boards on Ruby to remind northbound drivers of their location.

Trying to prevent a glut of signs, Henry’s office began enforcing the ordinance. One of the shop owners who was ordered to remove a sign subsequently reported other North Side businesses, Henry said.

The sidewalk along Garland Avenue, once populated with sandwich board signs, has become bare since Henry’s letters arrived in early February. Even Charlie Wash, owner of Bud Browne Appliance, 815 W. Garland, sawed down his permanent sandwich board sign.

“I don’t have $1 million a year to advertise,” he said. “This sign was how I competed for business. Since we planted trees to beautify Garland, the summertime leaves block out the signs on our buildings.”

On North Division, Ann Thompson, manager of Joy Beauty Salon, 2617 N. Division, says the city has mixed motives for enforcing the code. Since North Ruby opened, the city has offered North Division firms the chance to buy space on one of its signs along Ruby. The $200 price tag angered some shop owners.

“It’s just Spokane’s way of being hard on small business,” Thompson said.