Yet another meaningless and needless Halifax bylaw (Click here for Chronicle Herald article). This is what happens when some of your chosen representatives have nothing significant to contribute to the betterment of the city. They waste weeks of debate on cats, and contemplate new ways to irritate and tax small business owners in the city.

In the spotlight today is a piece of Haligonian over-regulation that caused many to throw their hands in the air in an expectant “c’mon!” The object of frustration is a bylaw that regulates the size of sandwich boards that businesses can display. Among the first to suffer is Halifax’s iconic life-sized Oompa-Loompa and Green Alien boards that adorn the entrance to the Freak Lunchbox on Barrington Street.

You can click here to read the details of bylaw S-800 (Licensing of Temporary Signs). Page 10 contains the provisions for Sandwich Boards. The whole thing amounts to one paragraph, basically stipulating that sandwich boards require a paid license, and that they can be no larger than 2.5 feet in width and 4 feet high.

While I understand that sandwich boards on sidewalks shouldn’t interfere with pedestrian traffic, going out of the way to dictate the dimensions of allowable signage is no more than an exercise of bureaucratic power. Business owners are not stupid, and if they see that a sign is causing havoc outside their store they would take steps to correct the situation immediately. After all, would you want angry pedestrians when your business depends on having them think positively of your store? In any case, such advertising faux pas are a rare exception. When was the last time you almost tripped on a sandwich board downtown?

If some insist to take issue against the alleged clogging of sidewalk arteries (because, you know, we have to make way for the thousands of tourists and locals who roam Halifax on foot in a density that cause dangerous pedestrian spillage into the road) then why not simply regulate the WIDTH of the sign. How does restricting the HIGHT of a sandwich board help anyone? To me, that just sounds like a decision by city council along the lines of ‘why regulate a little, when we can regulate a lot!’

Word has it that Paul MacKinnon, executive director of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, is working on a grandfather clause to save the Freak Lunchbox signs. Freak should be allowed to keep the sandwich boards, but I don’t support the grandfathering effort. Grandfathering will mean that other stores who want to sport similar creative endeavours to lure customers into their shops will not be allowed to do so, which will create an unfair privilege for Freak.

The bylaw affects all retailers, and should be fought collectively as an effort to preserve their right to creative marketing and advertising. Let people work for (deity’s) sake! Retailers are small business owners whose livelihoods depend on walk-in traffic. If some of them take the time to get creative in a city that relishes the mainstream, they should be rewarded, not stifled.

What do you think of this by-law?

(Photo Credit: The above photo is from a Facebook group called ‘Save Freak Lunchbox’s Oompa Loompa!‘. The photo was posted in the group by Sascha Veinot.)