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New signs coming to Banks Station

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

The Fayetteville City Council voted 3-1 Thursday night to issue a sign permit to Food Depot in the Banks Station shopping center under the premise the shopping center owners would replace the Banks Station and Movies 10 signs by Dec. 31.

A representative for Equity Investment Group, who spoke on the owner’s behalf, tried to buy more time. But the majority of the City Council decided to go with the owner’s original agreement and agreed to its Dec. 31 deadline.

Both signs were deemed non-conforming, but since the signs were resurrected before a new sign ordinance was implemented, the owners were not subjected to fines or penalties. However, the owners could not apply for a sign permit until they were in compliance, which made it difficult to attract new tenants, city officials said.

“We do not issue sign permits to properties with non-conforming signs, Planning and Zoning Director Jahnee Prince told the Board. “(The owners) will take it down by the end of the year if we issue a sign permit.”

Fayetteville Mayor Kenneth Steele lauded the owners for voluntarily agreeing to come into compliance, and he also welcomed the fact the building, which once housed Cub Foods, would no longer sit vacant.

City Council members tossed around the idea of granting the variance. In the end, all but Council member Al Hovey-King voted in favor of the item.

The representative told the City Council he had no qualms the owner would be able to remove the sign in time. But the attorney said it would be impossible for the owners to go through the sign approval process and have the replacement signs ready in time for the Dec. 31 deadline.

Kip Henry, 46, of Brooks, said the Banks Station sign is obtrusive and it needs to be removed. All signs in Fayetteville should be uniform similar to the signs in Peachtree City, he added.

“I used to live in Peachtree City and I like what they did with the sign ordinance,” he said while sifting through a stack of movies in a sale bin outside of the Movie Trading Co. in the Banks Station shopping center. “They’re smaller and less obtrusive.”

Henry said he does not want Fayetteville’s signs to look “tacky” like the ones he often sees in Jonesboro, Forest Park or Riverdale.

“I hate to see Fayetteville turn into a cluttered industrial mess,” Henry said. “I think some people think it’s their property, so they can do what they want. But it’s a way to make a sign more appealing and still draw the customers that you want.”