KEY POINTS:
The big signs above Video Ezy in Mt Albert are something of a landmark. Fixed above the veranda, the black and red logos are highly visible from either end of New North Rd and Mt Albert railway station.
It's been that way since the store opened in the early 1990s; bright and bold signs drawing people to the latest Tom Cruise blockbuster and Shrek for the kids.
Store manager James Ryan reckons restrictions on signs by the Auckland City Council will cost him a minimum of $5000 to comply. A rule banning signs above veranda height would mean having to tear down several large signs and do some rebuilding work.
Businesses across the city are coming to terms with a signs bylaw that will drastically cut the number of signs on corner dairies, shopping strips and in suburban villages such as Mt Albert.
The bylaw has been drawn up in conjunction with plans to ban billboards in the Queen St valley and other popular centres such as Newmarket, Ponsonby and Parnell.
Once it is passed in May, businessmen like Mr Ryan will have 18 months to comply.
Mr Ryan would like the council to meet some of the costs but knows that will not happen.
Wayne Baker, who has run a pharmacy in the Sandringham shops for 13 years, said the rules "were well and truly over the top" and would cost him a great deal of money to comply with.
He had three above-veranda signs that would have to come down, a $2000-plus fascia sign that did not comply, window advertising exceeding 20 per cent and five sandwich boards outside the shop.
The signs were orderly, added colour and did nothing to harm the visual look of the area, he said.
Shelley Hiorns said she needed large signs to attract customers to her T-shirt business, just off Sandringham Rd, because she could not rely on light foot traffic.
"I think it will bloody kill us. I'm not going to spend money taking those signs down. If they try [to remove them] I will close the shop and the Government can look after me," she said.
Bylaw review manager Jonathan Anyon said it was aimed at making the city a more attractive place by balancing the need of businesses to advertise products and services while maintaining a visual landscape where people could view buildings, heritage and natural landscape.
Signs bylaw
* No signs above veranda height (except tavern signs).
* No more than 20 per cent of a shop frontage below the veranda line can be covered in signs.
* Height restriction of 300mm on veranda fascia signs.
* One under veranda fascia per 5m of frontage.
* Limit of one sandwich board per business.
* Signs must comply within 18 months of new bylaw.
* Businesses in industrial areas can have double the amount of signs.
Signs in the city
Should the Auckland City Council toughen up bylaws on shop signs?
Mary Sheffield
Mission Bay
I don't think it's a good idea. Controls for special circumstances, like heritage buildings, maybe, but this [St Heliers] is a shopping centre and you expect to have visual cues.
Adam Morgan
Mt Eden
I wouldn't have thought it is going to benefit business but I do think there are some pretty intrusive advertising features around that interfere with the architecture of buildings.
Michael Hennan
Glendowie
Having advertising and bright signs makes for a nice happy village feel. People identify with advertising.
Martin Smith
Te Atatu
Looking across the road [in Mt Albert] it does look rather ugly but businesses need signs to advertise their products. The council should not get rid of signs unless they are filthy.
Tracy Coupe
Mt Albert
I think the council is going a little bit too far. At the end of the day businesses are trying to make money and they should have the right to advertise.
Karen Short
Glendowie
If I was a business owner I would think it was taking things too far. Businesses should be able to promote themselves within reason and as they see fit. But as long as I can find the business I want then I'm not too bothered.
