The Gadfly is a series of letters offering commentary on local issues and published in the Warrensburg Gazette.

Dear Editor

I read that the Warrensburg Planning & Zoning Commission is taking it upon themselves to regulate signs on local businesses. How wonderful! Soon, we will be able to traverse the streets of Warrensburg without being assaulted by unsightly signs promoting (gasp) local businesses! We will be able to remain blithely ignorant of the commercial life of our city.

I deliberately drove down Maguire Street today just to see what signs are offensive and to guess which businesses would be helped and which would be hurt by sign restrictions:

• Sign restrictions favor existing businesses over new ones. A good eye-catching sign can be one of the better ways for a new business to let folks know it exists, but the new business’s sign will be controlled while the existing one’s sign will likely be ‘grandfathered’ in.
• Sign restrictions favor chain stores over local entrepreneurs. Chains build brand awareness through multi-media advertising, so everyone recognizes their logos even on smaller signs. The local independent businessman must create his own brand awareness.
• Sign restrictions, especially those on portable signs, favor stores on the main drag over those on side streets. For example, Pat’s Video would be invisible without its sign on Maguire.
• Sign restrictions hurt consumers. Restrictions limit choice and make people spend more when they aren’t aware of specials.
• Signs help the radio, newspaper & billboard industries, as businesses must spend more to make up for inefficiencies in their own signage.

I can see placing limits on signs for safety reasons or as part of a variance for a business in a residential area. I cannot see censoring commercial speech (for that is what sign restrictions do) in deference to the esthetic sense of one person or group.

One more thing for the P&Z members (and all our other elected and appointed officials) – we won’t think any worse of you if you resist the temptation to find new things to regulate. Really!