Port Orange, FL – For some people, it’s a way to make a living. For others, it’s an eyesore and a potential safety hazard.
Now, the Port Orange City Council gets to decide what to do about sign spinners within city limits.
Council members will hear a special committee report during Tuesday night’s meeting on creating new standards for those who are hired to stand at street corners holding signs for motorists as they drive by.
Among those standards could be regulations on the size of the signs and possible restrictions on any sort of movement to attract drivers’ attention, including dancing.
Council member Don Burnette suspects the POCC will opt to keep the status quo of no regulations, especially since most of the businesses that employ sign spinners have voluntarily worked with the Port Orange-South Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce to keep the signs under control.
“I know that this is not gonna be something that’s gonna makes everybody happy,” Burnette added. “Some people don’t want us over-regulating businesses, but at the same time, a lot of people are worried about the aesthetics and what’s happening on our street corners.”
Those who support the sign spinners – especially the various businesses in Port Orange that employ them like Madelyn’s Furniture – argue that it’s an effective and cheap way to advertise.
Those who are against the sign spinners say it’s a potential safety hazard – especially if the signs or the sign spinners get in the way of vehicles – and fear that more businesses could employ them in the future, causing crowded street corners filled with people holding signs for hours at a time.
A full-on ban against sign spinners is unlikely, especially since some POCC members have said publicly that it could be seen as an attempt to squash freedom of speech.
“My guess is that we’re gonna take a wait-and-see approach and see if this works,” Burnette stated. “Me personally, I’m not a friend of them. I’m not fond of them. But I understand where some businesses feel like it works for them.”
The meeting starts at 6:30pm at Port Orange City Hall.
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.