“Weighing in” on the Smokin’ Po Boys pig mural/sign controversy...

So, the chef/owner of Smokin’ Po Boys BBQ in downtown Winder(across from the courthouse – been there forever, good food, good times through economic thick and thin) commissioned a mural/sign for the side of the restaurant a few months ago.

He hired a local artist and away they went…Come to find out, after the first draft was on the wall, the sign/mural was seven times larger than the Winder sign code allows. The city told the owner he’d have to apply for a variance because of the size of the sign/mural and work on it was halted until said variance matter is resolved.

Well, it’s not resolved yet and the matter has generated a petition, some local press and a good bit of controversy.  

One view is that Smokin’ Po Boys is an asset to downtown Winder - indeed, one of the few long-standing businesses left downtown. The food is good and the folks who make and serve the food are nice people who care about Winder, so let them have their sign/mural.

The other view is that a sign ordinance is a sign ordinance and once you open the Pandora’s Box of granting one variance – especially one that big – you’ve set a precedent for other such variances and pretty soon your sign ordinance is for all intents and purposes is gutted.      

While the haggling continues, let me share my thoughts:  

-    There is no such thing as a sign/mural. A sign identifies a business and a mural is art. They are not the same thing. Once a mural promotes a business it ceases to be a mural and becomes a sign.

-    Everyone wants to support Smokin’ Po Boys and its contribution to keeping downtown Winder alive.

-    One of the city council’s jobs is to protect the integrity of city ordinances, including the sign ordinance. Winder City Council is also supposed to help support downtown Winder. Therein lays the rub, pardon my BBQ pun. How can the council do both?

Controversies are often best settled with compromise.

Why not simply paint a mural on the side of the building, then also fasten a legal-sized, clearly separate sign on that same side of the building? That keeps the sign and the mural separate, yet accomplishes the task of art and advertisement.

Another possible compromise is to admit that the painted sign on the side of the dilapidated Peskin & Co. building (viewable from the site of the controversial pig sign) is bigger than the controversial pig sign

 It’s been there forever and it’s in clear violation of city sign ordinances which, if I understand correctly, prohibit signs from remaining on buildings once the business is no longer located there.

When did Peskin's close? Forever ago. So, why is that absentee landlord not made to follow the same rules Smokin’ Po Boys is?

If the Peskin's sign is “grandfathered in” or the sign ordinance is not being enforced there or whatever, then a precedent has been set that allows Smokin’ Po Boys to get their variance.

The controversy about the Smokin’ Po Boys sign/mural also swirls around its content. Some have called it the “Devil Pig” sign; others identify it as quirky art… My reaction is that it’s disturbing.

I’ve eaten at Smokin’ Po Boys numerous times over the years and I REALLY ENJOY their BBQ. When I think of a Smokin’ Po Boys’ meal, I do NOT think of a tormented-looking pig being chased by mean bottles of BBQ sauce. I think of the delicious union of pig and sauce that is one of their sandwiches.

The current sign/mural does not communicate this. 

Why not acknowledge that the pig had to die to become that BBQ offering, but that maybe he’s in pig heaven now, happily playing with his friends, the tasty sauces? Happy is how I feel when I eat a Smokin’ Po Boys’ meal. Happy is the message that pig should communicate…

The owner said his intent was to create an iconic piece of art that would help put downtown Winder and his restaurant on the map. I encourage him to do that, but not at the risk of giving children stuck in Broad Street traffic nightmares.

Long story short, compromise and design revision could’ve been discussed early on – at the planning board meeting, at the historical society review, once the stop-work/variance order was made or at the city council meeting this week, when the matter was supposed to have been voted on.

Instead, the council tabled the matter and agreed to hand it over to an as yet non-existent committee, who after defining “mural” in the City of Winder, will come up with some recommendation for resolution of the matter.

Meanwhile, the “Devil Pig” remains on the side of Smokin’ Po Boys and the controversy swirls on…Compromise with the goal of prompt resolution would’ve been the better course.

If elected, I promise the citizens of Winder to do my best to accomplish that.