By Erin Rollins
Five months after being introduced, a city bylaw forcing the removal of sandwich board signs from Bank Street storefronts still has owners furious over lost profits.
The bylaw, implemented last October by the City of Ottawa, regulates the use of A-frame signs, or “sandwich boards,” stipulating that they can’t be placed within 50 centimetres of a curb or sidewalk and must be placed on a store’s property.
Store owners are upset over the confusion that continues to swirl around who can have a sign and who can’t and add the regulations have put a dent in their profits.
“When the sign is not there the customers just bypass us,” says Pravin Rajani, owner of the Esquire Smoke Shop on Bank.
Rajani argues the bylaw is unfair because stores on wider walkways can use signs while stores on narrower stretches can’t.
“It’s not my fault that the city doesn’t have a uniform sidewalk,” argues Rajani.
But despite the chorus of complaints, other businesses argue the merchants should talk less and take more action.
“They’re talkers, not doers — they want change but they’re not willing to put the effort into it,” says Rob Spittall, owner of Bank Street’s Comic Book Shoppe.
While he says the sign restrictions have hurt his business, Spittall adds store owners have taken little action to argue their case with the city.
That may account for why some city councillors don’t realize how much of a brouhaha the bylaw has caused along Bank.
“My understanding is that the majority does not want them,” says Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes of the signs, adding only one business onwer has complained to her.
The city says there’s good reason for the restrictions.
“If you stand on Bank Street and look up and down the area, it’s blatantly obvious where people walk,” says Stuart Marshall, the city official who wrote the bylaw.
Among those who’ve complained about the signs are the visually impaired, says Gerry Lepage, executive director of the Bank Street Promenade Business Improvement Area.
Bylaw officers started enforcing the regulations along Bank Street after the BIA approached the city with its safety and aesthetic concerns about the signs, Lepage adds.
“Obviously, there’s been a lot of resistance,” says Lepage, adding initially he heard many complaints.
Those complaints continued even after the BIA offered compensation in the form of free advertising on Bank Street billboards. Only three businesses expressed interest.
The griping has dwindled over the past three months, Lepage says.
But some business owners say it’s impossible to get in touch with the BIA.
“I washed my hands of them,” says smoke shop-owner Rajani, who says he tried to contact the BIA several times about the signs but never heard back.
A billboard several blocks from his business — the free advertising offered by the BIA — isn’t as effective as an A-frame sign directly in front of his store, Rajani adds.
Other businesses support the new bylaw.
“There’s too much hodge-podge — it just clutters the street,” says Kevin Houlahan, owner of Bank Street’s Hair Essentials.
Many A-frame signs on the street are unappealing because of their “homemade” look, he says, adding that he used a sandwich board sign for 10 years but noticed no difference in sales since removing it last fall.
The BIA’s Lepage says that whether or not a store with a sign has an advantage is a “subjective opinion.”
Lepage adds: “Do I believe that a store will go out of business because they don’t have an A-frame? No.”