HOT SPRINGS -- A car dealer is in a dispute with the city over whether his patriotic banner display violates Hot Springs' sign code.
Jim Bullard, president of Spa Auto Sales Inc., said Friday that the banners lining the front of his business at 2443 Albert Pike Road are symbolic of the American flag and should be allowed to remain.
The Hot Springs Planning and Development Department told Bullard on Thursday that the banners had to be removed or he could be fined $250 a day for violating the city's sign code.
Planning coordinator Rick Stauder said the banners, also known as "feathers" or "sails," are not true flags and are considered temporary signs under the sign code.
He said regular American flags are exempt from the code and that any number of them could be displayed on a property without need of a permit.
Section 16-5-12(d) of the sign code states that "flags, pennants or insignia of any governmental organization when not displayed in connection with a commercial promotion or as an advertising device" are exempt from regulation under the code.
A sign is defined in the code to mean and include "every device, fram, letter, figure, character, mark, plane, point, design, picture, stroke, stripe, trademark, reading matter or other similar device, which is used or intended to be used to attract attention or convey information when the same is placed out of doors in view of the general public; in addition, any of the above which is not placed out of doors, but which is illuminated with artificial or reflected light, when placed near the inside surface of a window in such a way as to be in view of the general public and used or intended to be used to attract attention or in view of the general public and used or intended to be used to attract attention or convey information to motorists."
The ordinance defines a temporary sign as a "sign not constructed or intended for long-term use, and not permanently attached to the ground, a building or structure."
It also states that a temporary-sign permit should be obtained for all temporary signs and can be issued for a period of 15 consecutive days at a cost of $15 per permit for a limit of two signs per business. A year-long "weekend permit" good for every Friday through Sunday can be issued for $165, but the number of signs is still limited to two.
"I think they represent the United States of America and honors our servicemen and women and veterans. I don't see anything wrong with them. I understand they are temporary, but we pretty much treat them as flags," Bullard said.
Bullard said the banners are put up every morning if weather conditions are favorable, and they're taken down each evening.
He said he could pay the $250 daily fine for being in violation of the sign ordinance, "for quite a while, but I've already had so much response to this. All the television stations have contacted me, and it's going to get a lot of attention."
He said he could erect standard American flags if it became necessary, but "a lot of my issue is that someone there [in City Hall] last year told me these banners we fly were considered a patriotic act, and now they say we can't fly them."
Bullard said the city's action could have been the result of a complaint filed against him, but he was not certain of that.
"But I can drive up and down Central Avenue, Airport Road, Albert Pike Road, every road in the city and find violations every day that are far worse than the American flag pennants. And those have been in violation [of the ordinance] for months or years and nothing has been done, but now they want me to take down by American flag pennants," he said.
State Desk on 06/06/2015