The St. Louis suburb of Crestwood, MO, whose planning and zoning commission previously voted unanimously to impose a six-month moratorium on electronic signs to study their impact, rejected that course of action when its Board of Aldermen voted on January 22, 2019, to strike down the moratorium by a 5-3 vote.
Whereas the town’s planning panel had been influenced by sign opponents in voting to approve the ban on January 2, 2019, a more moderate approach prevailed when members of the Crestwood Board of Aldermen raised concerns that the moratorium would unnecessarily penalize the local business community.
Explaining his position, Crestwood Alderman Tony Kennedy said, “You know one of the things we don’t want to do is to be an impediment to new businesses that are looking into developing in Crestwood. So I would be concerned about a moratorium that might impact companies.”
Crestwood Mayor Grant Mabie also opposed the ban. “Seventy-five percent of our revenues comes from the business community and I think, in the distant past, Crestwood had a reputation for being anti-business, I think we moved past that and I worry that this is a step in the wrong direction.”
This is an excellent example of a community which has conscientiously avoided the kind of knee-jerk reaction to electronic signs which have led to arbitrary bans by other U.S. municipalities. Town officials examined the evidence and determined that Crestwood could regulate electronic signs in accordance with its existing sign code and without the need for a moratorium.
https://callnewspapers.com/crestwood-decides-against-sign-moratorium/
