Elgin moves forward on business sign plan

Elgin leaders are prepared to up the ante to help downtown businesses improve their visibility by installing signs that hang off front building facades.

City leaders Wednesday night gave tentative approval of a plan to reimburse business owners $2,500 if they pay for decorative wooden signs that would extend from business building at a 90-degree angle.

The city staff initially proposed a plan that would reimburse merchants up to $2,500 or 50 percent for a sign - whichever was less.

But Mayor Ed Schock suggested making $2,500 the upfront standard.

"You take a little risk and hope for a lot of gain. That's the way I look at it," said Schock, who acknowledged that not all businesses that receive a grant will stay in business forever.

The plan will go before the council for a final vote at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 150 Dexter Court.

According to the proposal, the sign cannot have a surface area greater than 10 square feet and must be placed between 9 and 18 feet above the sidewalk.

The business name also may be lit up by lights on the sign hangar or building itself.

As many as 229 properties would be eligible for funding, meaning the program could cost more than $550,000.

But Sean Stegall, assistant city manager, said the council could reserve a set amount each year and let businesses apply on a first-come, first-served basis.

Council members have not discussed or decided how much funding to reserve each year.

Sarosh Saher, the city's urban design and preservation specialist, said signs don't have to be a rectangle. If a business is, for example, a coffee shop, their sign may be in a shape of a mug as long as it meets the city's rules.

Councilman David Kaptain supported the plan, but expressed concern that it might not be the right time to begin installing signs of the city is in the midst of a multiyear improvement plan to install new sidewalks, repave streets and add decorative streetscape elements to the downtown.

Kaptain also said the city guidelines that specify the signs must be made of redwood run counter to the city's government's goal of being a green city.

"This is a sustainable community and we're using redwood," he said.