Pollution — with all its ugliness and destruction — has many faces and too often seems to be lurking around the next corner ready to pounce.

Signs are ever present and most are beckoning or shouting at us to look and obey. Based on advertising rhetoric, one is encouraged to believe the future of any aspiring business venture is almost totally dependent on the ability to advertise on billboards with little or no restraint. Gratefully, that fact is not digested without question by those with licensing authority.

Erection of the Dick’s Sporting Goods sign advertising the store’s presence in the Jubilee Shopping Center did not go unnoticed. Granted, the landscaping is nice and an improvement; but without care, the site could easily become an eyesore just as the new sign has become in the eyes of many.

A few years back, when debating the future of signs along U.S. Highway 98, a city councilman introduced as evidence a picture of Airport Boulevard in Mobile and compared it to a similar rendering of the then-current situation on Highway 98 in Daphne.

The contrast was striking. The picture of Daphne was quiet, peaceful and inviting — not only to the eye but also to anyone seeking food, lodging or other business interests along the highway. Absent was the garish harshness and crass commercial crush of signs along Airport Boulevard, each vying for more visibility and space without regard to aesthetics.  Needless to say, those in authority opted to retain the community standard we had learned to use without the fanfare of mega sized signs.

We now learn Academy Sports — another enterprising sports business — has expressed an interest in locating a store on Highway 90 across the street from the entrance to Lake Forest. Their preliminary plans call for a nonconforming sign reportedly larger than the size of the Dick’s sign. Since it is nonconforming, the city of Daphne has initiated action to consider other options including expansion of the Jubilee Overlay District or perhaps a new I-10 overlay district.

I am not anti-business but neither do I endorse oversized signs that in my opinion pollute and destroy the appeal and overall appearance of our city.

Consider that prior to the construction of the Eastern Shore Centre, the entrance to TimberCreek Subdivision was clearly the prettiest — if not the most significant — landmark in that area. The beauty of that entrance has been dwarfed and smothered by the overwhelming presence of commercial interests and their self-serving signs.

Surely, monstrous signs are not the vision and standard for the undeveloped strip of land between I-10 and Highway 90, stretching east to the intersection of state Highway 181. The viability of a business seems more secure in the quality of the product and service rendered than the size of its sign. There are successful, long-standing outlets on Highway 90 and other areas that are doing just fine financially. The reputation of a business seems a more serious and reputable indicator of worth and reliability than the advertising ploy of a large sign.

The application of the Academy site raises serious questions.

Two natural streams demanding protection are located within the boundaries or immediately adjacent to the site. The elevation is higher than Highway 90 and any stormwater runoff will be absorbed and flow into Lake Forest Lake through Tom’s Cove.  Tom’s Cove has been unable to contain past runoff and flooding. Property damage has occurred on Nicole Circle.

So the issues are clear: what precautions will be mandated to preclude even further flooding and damage to residents but also containment and increased control over sedimentation and contamination of the lake?

These are large concerns — and certainly, in my opinion, rate higher on a scale than the size of a sign.

Protection of an owner’s property comes first.

Stringent safeguards must be identified and implemented, not only for the homeowner but also as protection against increased erosion and damage to not only the site but adjoining properties. 

Also, consider the rights and privileges of the Lake Forest Property Owners Association members who actually own the lake and will absorb a large portion of any stormwater runoff.

Quoting from a report released in August 2010 by the Watershed Management Plan of D’Olive Creek, Tiawasee Creek and Joe’s Branch Watersheds, under the auspices of the Mobile National Estuary Program: “The Lake Forest Property Owners Association should mount a sustained campaign to clearly explain that Lake Forest Lake has become a de facto sediment deposition basin for 91 percent of the total D’Olive Watershed. Of the total acreage draining into the lake (7,050 acres),  only 1,600 acres originates within the Lake Forest subdivision…”

A pristine lake has fallen prey to overzealous development with too few regulations to protect the environment and property of those residents downstream.

That same fate awaits the entire undeveloped section not only within the area noted but also north of I-10. It is time to stop, reevaluate and clearly consider the impact development of this valuable resource will have on our community.

The time has arrived to establish a clear standard applicable to all desiring to locate their business within an area that has been weakened and crippled by rampant erosion caused by poor land-use principles and management.

Does this area really have the capacity to support the reported possibility of 64 mega signs?  Even more important, just how many business sites can be realistically placed within this area without further destroying the already fragile eco system?

The watershed report clearly presents the clearest guidance and perhaps should become the primary resource document for local planners, developers and elected officials.

Increased regulation must be expected, and future approval of questionable sites must be based on the most recent or pending changes, whether it is from the Environmental Protection Agency or proposed changes to Daphne’s Land Use Ordinance.

How the request from Academy is handled will set the stage and establish the standard. This standard should clearly incorporate methodology to preclude a random individual approval process primarily based on what the developer or business wants. Rather, the process must embrace a concise document clearly addressing identified issues and problems.

To do otherwise invites the chaos of further degradation and destruction instead of restoration and preservation. The folly and cost is self-evident in recently completed restoration projects and the most current restoration of Joe’s Branch within the watershed. The choice is clear.

Henry Lawson — past Lake Forest Property Owners Association board of directors member, and a past LFPOA president — has lived in Daphne’s Lake Forest subdivision since 1981. He writes regularly for The Bulletin on issues that affect the subdivision. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Vision Golf Management or the Lake Forest Property Owners Association board of directors.

For comments on this column, or if you’d like to see a certain Lake Forest issue covered in this column, e-mail bul-letin@gulfcoastnewspapers.com, with the subject “A Lake Forest View.”