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New Mayor, New Sign Code

The race to be Chicago’s next mayor is on, and the city’s controversial sign code is right in the middle of the campaign.

Six candidates recently participated in the “Chicago Small Business Mayoral Candidate Forum” hosted by the Small Business Advocacy Council (SBAC), where more than 200 attendees listened to them answer questions about the issues impacting the small business community. ISA and the Illinois Sign Association, along with 15 local chambers of commerce, helped host the event.

Following the mayoral forum, the SBAC sent out a survey to all the mayoral candidates which asked just one question: “Will you introduce and support an ordinance that eliminates the requirement that public way use permits be submitted to and approved by the full City Council?” The forum and survey question will help the local small business community determine which candidates will best support reasonable sign regulations in Chicago.

“There’s no legitimate reason business owners should have to have their public way use permits approved by the Chicago City Council,” says Elliot Richardson, Founder and President of the SBAC. “By making the process of obtaining a permit less burdensome and processing permits more quickly, the city can ensure Chicago businesses have every opportunity to grow and create jobs.”

Previous sign code improvement work between SBAC, ISA and the Illinois Sign Association includes window signs and the first-ever “Chicago Sign Summit.

The election is on February 29th, and hopefully a pro-sign candidate will be Chicago’s next mayor!

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