Previous Story
Sign-maker critiques zoning proposal
|
Posted on Jun 20 2008
A proposal to adopt a host of changes to Saipan’s zoning laws—which includes a new zone for adult businesses—has prompted criticism from one local sign-maker who says its signage regulations could hinder his business.
The Commonwealth Zoning Board in a sparsely attended June 18 public hearing took comments from local residents on the proposal, unveiled earlier this year, to adjust several key aspects of zoning rules.
Chief among them is a bid to establish a so-called “adult business overlay zone,” proposed for Middle Road. The regulations would direct adult businesses like strip clubs, adult bookstores and massage parlors to relocate to the zone within one year.
The zoning office is also taking proposals from the public on the creation of an adult entertainment district, which would concentrate several adult businesses in one area.
Zoning administrator Steve Tilley said the adult business zoning changes would help to ensure Saipan’s tourism centers provide a “family friendly” environment.
Yet a less noticed section of the proposal, new regulations on signs, sparked strong criticism from sign-maker Enrico Santos.
“Signs are an issue that’s supposed to be left between the building’s owner and the tenant,” he said during the hearing.
The proposed regulations would demand a certain degree of uniformity in the way signs are designed on Saipan, he added, but many businesses want signs to be eye-catching and different. “The customers want their stores to be attractive, not uniform with other stores on the island,”
Moreover, Santos noted the proposal demands that signs written in two languages would require the English characters to be at least as large as the foreign characters.
Businesses that cater to Korean or Japanese patrons, he said, will want the characters in those languages to be “more emphasized,” he said, thereby making the proposed regulations problematic.
The zoning board will discuss the proposed regulations and the comments it has received in a June 26 board meeting.
