DAPHNE, Ala. — Different entities have been seeking a solution to the city’s signage woes since the City Council received a request for a sign that exceeds ordinance limits.

The ordinance — a 20-page document that designates sign restrictions — states that property along the Interstate corridor with at least 200 minimum feet of frontage space is allowed one sign no taller than 40 feet that cannot exceed 250 square feet.

The council has created overlay districts — including Jubilee Square shopping center and property south of the interstate along Alabama Highway 181 — where developments may have taller signs, as seen with a 120-foot sign for Lowe’s Home Improvement and a 90-foot sign for Jubilee Square. The site for possible development of an Academy Sports and Outdoors across from Lake Forest’s north entrance on Highway 90 lies outside overlay districts already in place within the city. 

Daphne’s City Council and Planning Commission have mulled ways to accommodate Academy’s request for a 100-foot-tall sign. The retailer contended its site will have limited visibility along Interstate 10 due to a large right of way and tall trees.

But getting an exception also for Academy isn’t the answer, one council member said.

“I believe that we made a mistake with the approval of the pylon sign in the Jubilee overlay district and that we cannot continue to respond to individual requests as they come in,” Council President Cathy Barnette said.

High signs are not a prerequisite for success, she added.

“The businesses are coming and interested in our community because of what our community has to offer. Obviously, they have done some type of market analysis to determine that they too believe that their business would thrive here in Daphne. We have got a number of big-box retailers that are here in Daphne including Walmart and Publix most recently,” she said.

Walmart and Publix did not ask for exemptions to the sign ordinance.

Councilman August Palumbo emailed The Bulletin photos of Academy Sports and Outdoors outlets in Hoover and Montgomery that feature signs within restrictions comparable to Daphne’s ordinance.

“They demonstrate that that particular enterprise is located in other cities that have a restrictive sign ordinance and obviously did not grant 100-foot signs — and yet Academy is located there and obviously has prospered,” Palumbo said. “They do the job but they are not obnoxious — and they are much more aesthetic, from the dimensions of the signs that I can determine; they would fit currently within our sign ordinance…”

Palumbo said Daphne can learn plenty from the other two cities.

“Demands being made by developers up front are not necessarily deal breakers. We should stick to our guns and not relax ordinances that keep our city beautiful…. At the end of the day, as is proven with Academy Sports, if you have a location that is conducive for them to do business, they are going to come with or without the 100-foot sign,” he said.

The next step in the process, according to Barnette, will be discussions at future council and planning commission meetings.

Last week, the planning commission held a special meeting to discuss options before making a recommendation to the city council. Commissioners did not make a decision last week, but they were expected to discuss the issue last night. (Editor’s Note: Press deadline passed before this meeting took place. Keep reading The Bulletin and baldwincountynow.com for updates.) However, the commission will ask the council to authorize a committee to determine if the Alabama Department of Transportation will allow trees to be thinned to improve visibility along the whole corridor.

Barnette, also a planning commissioner, said she opposes amending the sign ordinance but contended there are other options. Academy would be a benefit to the city, she said, but the city must consider all the ramifications.

“I would love to have a big-box retailer like Academy in Daphne …. it is not one or the other. We have seen many people who have come to our community and abided by our ordinances and are thriving financially,” Barnette said.