In order to join ISA and the California Sign Association and take action against the Los Angeles proposed restrictive sign code, please send the following language to members of the L.A. City Council:Businesses survive or fail depending on their ability to effectively advertise. The most cost-effective form of advertising is on-premise business signage. It works 24 hours a day, seven days a week drawing in as much as 49 percent of the business’s new clients. And unlike other forms of advertising, on-premise signs are usually owned by the businesses themselves. It doesn’t make sense to strip businesses of their ability to reach out and communicate. But that is exactly what the City of Los Angeles will do with their plan to ban new digital signs and slash the size and height of new on-premise business signs. If the intention is to clean up a proliferation of competing messages, it makes more sense to adequately inventory and remove unpermitted signs and take a fresh look at the cityscape. Communities need clearly visible signs that give an aging population adequate time to change lanes and reach an establishment. Communities need innovative signs that appeal to younger customers as well. We should appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit evidenced by retail signage. And we should give businesses this small measure of support to survive. The fact of the matter is that thousands of small businesses will be adversely affected if this sign code is passed. With our economy in a state of crisis, now is definitely NOT the time for the second largest city in the United States to take away the ability of local retailers and national franchises to effectively and inexpensively identify their business and advertise their goods and services! |