June 15, 2009 - District of Mission

289
Mayor and Council of Mission
First let me ask if you have ever asked the business owners that make up you city what they want
Should they not have the right to advertise with what works for them
It is also unfair that the city may use the reader board, which they do, but need no permit and can erect
them wherever and for however long they wish.
Businesses have specials and promotions all year around. Some examples would be: case lot sales,
inventory sales, holiday events, and seasonal sales. There are truly an endless number of reasons to
promote and market a business on a consistent year round basis.
Fixed signs on the front of a business are static, expensive and cannot be changed. Newspaper ads cost
in excess of eight hundred dollars per week. Flyers are a comman marketing tool but they are rarely a
draw for a new client base and they are not environmentally friendly way of delivering a message as
most flyers will only see the recycle box. Reader boards are an economical way to achieve a flexible
marketing approach, visibility to a wide audience, and a professional appearance when they are well
maintained.
Polls show that most businesses would or do use reader boards and would be interested in using them
for more extended periods of time than the current by-law permits. There has been a strong
undercurrent to push for change on this topic. The current by-law appears to be a "cash grab" at the
expense of struggling businesses. The short amount of time allotted to an advertising period is
unreasonable and not comparable to other advertising firms.
The argument against reader boards is that they are distracting, but this can be said for many visual
cues along roadsides ie. flags, banners, sandwich boards, park benches, waving mascots etc... Reader
boards have actually been shown to increase sales during the period that the signs are erected and thay
promote a store's visibility within a community. For a new store opening this is a key detail in ensuring
a successful start. Stores that are not visible from the road also benefit from the message they can still
provide to the public that is passing by. At a time when a stimulus to the economy is most necessary the
City should push to provide every avenue possible for businesses to market their image and push thier
product. Happy thriving businesses will ensure jobs for our local citizens.
It can't be stressed enough that the city needs to show best business practices by loosening the
regulation on the current sinage by-law. Local businesses are hit with many tax levies and business
costs such as strata fees and leases. More fees in the form of costly reoccurring sign licenses could be
detrimental to the bottom line of a business. If the same fee could be applied to a longer period of
advertising time, there might be some relief to the small business budget,
Companies that rent reader board advertising should be held accountable for the condition ad
appearance of the product they market. This would relieve the City's concern about unsightly signs. The
current approach of allowing the boards but allowing only short periods of use and charging high fees
is not effective. Reader boards should be used to thier highest and best use and all businesses should
have an equal opportunity to use them. The current approach of making it so difficult for companies to
use reader boards is an underhanded way of attempting to ban them through over regulation. It would
be more reasonable to ascertain what the City wants in a reader board "look and feel" and to apply that
policy across the business populous.