Politics & Government
Dallas Council Regulates Signs
An ordinance approved by the governing body covers a variety of signs.
The Dallas City Council kicked off 2012 by unanimously voting in an ordinance designed to be tough on eye sores in the community.
The sign ordinance requires that temporary banners above businesses be replaced after 60 days with permanent signs and requires companies that go out of business remove their signs after six months. Current signs are grandfathered in under the ordinance, Mayor Boyd Austin said.
The ordinance covers a variety of sign types, including placards that are posted all over gas stations, something that Austin is looking to get rid of under the new ordinance.
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"I want all of those convenience stores and their cigarette signs posted over the parking lots, that’s a lot of the ones I want to see gone," Austin said.
A second reading of a motorized golf cart ordinance was tabled until February because the Georgia Municipal Association is studying the changes to the state laws.
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The council also voted unanimously to put a moratorium on the city’s wrecker policy for six months to study the policy and see how to limit the number of wreckers the city employs. City Manager Kendall Smith said the current policy has no wait to limit the number of wreckers registered to work roadside calls, such as wrecks and disabled cars.
The council would like to be able to limit the number of wreckers on call because many of the companies may not get a call very often, Smith said.
Several items, including requests for the annual Downtown Block Party and sidewalk repairs were approved on the consent agenda. The Downtown Block Party is presented by Georgia Classic Rides and takes place April through September. Three sidewalk repairs were approved: on Memorial Drive, and two on Seaboard Drive.
The council also reapproved the city’s contract with Waste Industries and appointed Jeremiah Fields to fill the unexpired term of Jim Henson on the Dallas Planning Commission. That term expires on Dec. 31.
Austin, and Councilmen James Kelly, Michael Cason and James Henson were all sworn in prior to the start of the meeting.