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You’re no longer breaking the law in Arlington if you put a sandwich board sign on the sidewalk in front of your business.
The County Board voted Saturday to amend the county’s infamously strict rules for signs — attacked by many business owners as being over-the-top and hard to understand. But the changes fall short of what was expected, with a more comprehensive reform of the ordinance pushed back until next summer.
The new rules allow umbrellas with decals for outdoor cafes and signs for parking garages, as well as A-frame, or sandwich-board, signs, as long as pedestrians have six feet of walking space beside the sign.
“These much-needed changes to the County’s Zoning Ordinance will help both small businesses and their customers,” County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said in a written statement. “Sidewalk signs, properly placed, not only provide information — they enliven streets and make it more fun to walk around our downtowns.”
Despite a comprehensive overhaul being pushed back until the summer of 2012, local business owner Jim Barker said he’s grateful for the recent changes and plans to put a sandwich board sign in front of his business, the Washington Wine Academy.
“The reality is things take longer than they should. We appreciate the fact that at least things are still moving forward,” he said.
Crystal City Business Improvement District President Angela Fox agreed.
“I’m extremely excited that we were able to start this process of making changes. Sandwich board signs are huge for retail,” she said. “Obviously, to see a complete signage overhaul by now would have been awesome … But these are complex issues in a county that really values community input.”
Arlington County spokeswoman Diana Sun said revising the sign ordinance is too large of a project to do all at once.
“It’s a huge project to do the entire thing. So I think they’re doing it in pieces,” Sun said. “There’s still a lot more to come.”
