Probably the most foolish comment made all night was from Paul Parisi, representing the Tucson Chamber of Commerce. Mr.Parisi implored the council to allow the business owner to decide when they should shut their lights off,if at all.
A motion by Al Kunisch to allow lights on until 10:00PM or closing (whichever is later) with the support of Vice Mayor Carter & Mayor Loomis was defeated by a 3-3 vote, with Council Members Garner, Gillaspie & Latas opposed. Ms. Abbott was absent.
A new motion by Barry Gillaspie to turn the issue back to the Planning Department for further clarification was approved when the mayor came on board.
Probably the most interesting fact that was noted by Dee Widero, OV Zoning Code Administrator acknowledging that 80% of Oro Valley businesses are NOT in compliance when it comes to lighting.
Hopefully, the town will start fining those businesses before too much time goes by. That may get the attention of the violators.
(This news item was finally reported by the Arizona Daily Star on 9-1-09. Must have been a slow news day to report such an old item. Here is the link to the article.)
2 comments:
Thinker was incorrect when he asserted that only one person filed a complaint about sign code violations and that one person does not speak for the majority. Last night we were informed that there were many complaints (plural) about the lighting issue and apparently those people WERE speaking for the majority when you consider that last night's turn-out had more people speaking out AGAINST this proposal than FOR it.
Also consider that there were 3 groups of people speaking - business owners, residents, and the scientific community. Only the business owners were FOR increasing the hours for lighted signs. Residents and the scientific community were AGAINST it. That's 1 group for and 2 groups against.
Even one of the business owners who came to support not only the 10 PM proposal but who was wearing a "dusk to dawn" button, had second thoughts about all night lighting after listening to the concerns of those who spoke against it. I, for one, really admire a person who is open to changing his mind when presented with additional information.
The scientific community came prepared with statistics to support their beliefs. The business community had no statistics to support their belief that 24-hour signage increases business.
Even more interesting is that when a council member asked how many businesses were currently not in compliance, the answer was 80%. So 80% of businesses are already keeping their lights on until 10 PM or until dawn, and yet they're STILL claiming that business is slow, so they inadvertently admitted that all night signage DOES NOT WORK.
The codes are on the books.
The codes are reasonable.
Enforce them.
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