SOUTH FORK— Town board officials have passed a revised sign code regulation for the Town of South Fork. In a previous board meeting held in August, the board listened to the public’s comments that expressed some concerns pertaining to the proposed changes and decided to delay a vote on the new sign code until the Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed the recommended changes suggested by the business community.

The board and planning commission have been looking to change the code over the past two years in order to assist in cleaning up the Highway 160/149 corridor by removing signs from businesses that have been vacant for more than a year. Concerns from the public were expressed during the August meeting that the proposed changes would directly affect open businesses and force them to make alterations to existing signs. Board members made it clear that most of the existing signs would be grandfathered into the current code and would not be affected by the changes being proposed. Ultimately, the board opted to table the decision until a new town administrator came on board.

During the month of October Town Administrator Dan Hicks worked with the director of the South Fork Chamber of Commerce, Joe McCarn, to create a revised version of the sign code. McCarn obtained recommendations for revisions from business owners that had earlier voiced concerns and these concerns were addressed in the revised code. The planning commission approved the revised sign code on Nov. 15 and sent it with the recommendation for approval to the board of trustees.

The Board of Trustees approved the new sign code at the Nov. 28 meeting in a four to one vote. After the approval, Hicks explained that the new code would be implemented over several months. According to Hicks, more than half of the businesses in town do not have an existing sign permit and they will be allowed to obtain a permit before the town begins to enforce the new regulations. Hicks explained that when the town begins to enforce the new sign code, the focus will be on having locations without permits remove their signs.

The new sign code also creates a temporary sign permit for banners and flags that will need to be renewed annually and are only allowed if the owner has a permanent sign permit on file. Temporary signs will not be allowed to take the place of permanent signs and annual renewal assures that damaged banners/flags are replaced.

Hicks emphasized that the focus of the new sign code is to present a professional look to visitors as they travel through the area and to remove existing signs that are outside of closed establishments. The permanent sign permit carries a one-time fee of $30 and temporary sign permits are $20 annually per business.

Hicks finished by stating that during the process, he has looked at the town’s signs and there will be some changes to their signs as well. “We will adhere to this code ourselves and be a good example,” finished Hicks.