Boston's sign police conduct a sweep

[statler]

Boston's sign police conduct a sweep
Shop owners bristle as Newbury Street sandwich boards get heave-ho

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff | June 15, 2006

Marilyn Tushman , in heels, sprinted after the truck, banging on the window and screaming at the men for taking her metal sign advertising ``fine Scottish cashmere for ladies and men at discount prices."

``You stole my sign!" she shouted.

The men didn't deny it. Not only did they refuse to give it back, they handed her a $200 citation for violating a little-known city law against sandwich boards and freestanding signs on public sidewalks.

Up and down Newbury Street's concourse of ritzy salons and purveyors of haute couture, five city Inspectional Services Department workers yesterday hauled away signs and heaved them into the back of the truck, often with highly agitated store managers or owners buzzing around them.

The two-dozen victims included a sale sign at Guess jeans and a chalkboard sign at Starbucks that had hand-drawn yellow bananas and inviting details about a new drink. Shops from Timeless Tea to L'elegance Coiffure were relieved of signs in the crackdown.

Such signs have been illegal for decades, but in the past the city has only occasionally handed out citations and has only rarely hauled away the offending advertisements en masse. Some business owners say they are a staple of urban life, adding character and life to the streetscape. But others say they are nothing but clutter and that complaints are on the rise. Under pressure from two neighborhood groups trying to improve the look of the Back Bay, the city launched yesterday's operation.

``This is the place people want to be -- it's the most beautiful neighborhood in the country and this is the top shopping promenade in Boston," said Meg Mainzer-Cohen , president of the Back Bay Association, which represents area businesses and is making a push to clean up the area in preparation for a marketing campaign. ``And there are sandwich boards littering it."

Sandwich boards are banned citywide, but in some neighborhoods, such as Mattapan, Dorchester, and Allston-Brighton, business owners are allowed to place the signs outside, as long as they do it on private property and get permits from the city.

But in the Back Bay, strict neighborhood codes specifically outlaw sandwich boards and any other freestanding signs.

Word circulated on several neighborhood e-mail lists alerting the businesses that the rules were going to be enforced more strictly, but yesterday's sweep still seemed to come as a surprise.

At each shop, five city workers huddled to decide whether a sign was in violation. If it was standing alone and advertising a business, it was hauled away. One of the city workers, a burly man with a bright blue ISD shirt, informed the owner of the violation. Another wrote out the $200 fine. One put the signs into the truck. One took photos to document violations.

``It's like, come on, get a grip," said Tiffany Clark , a passerby who was shocked to see the city removing a sign for a second-floor tea store. ``How bad is the crime in Boston? And this is the issue they're trying to enforce?"

Each year, Mainzer-Cohen said, complaints about the sandwich boards increase. Last summer, she said, there were about 15 complaints.

``Part of what makes this such an attractive neighborhood is that it is very strictly regulated," Mainzer-Cohen said. ``And at the end of the day, that's why people want to be here."

She said that some businesses, to get around signage restrictions, have resorted to makeshift alternatives, such as parking ad-covered cars in metered spaces.

Mainzer-Cohen said such things detract from the area's atmosphere. But some disagree.

``If you take away the signs, it will look like a generic mall," said David Thompson , who owns Eclipse, a hair salon and gallery. ``It will be a cookie-cutter Disneyland, and I don't want to be a part of that. Let it have a little funk to it."

Business owners predicted a backlash against the association, and some said they are considering leaving the area because of the hassles of doing business in the posh district: high rents, difficult parking and restrictions that strictly control their stores' looks.

``We're not 6-year-old kids who are going to be bullied because some big truck comes up," said Tushman, a manager at Best of Scotland Cashmere Outlet . She said that the store obtained a permit for the sign 18 years ago and that it was made in accordance with architectural guidelines.

Meanwhile, a man nearby walked around with a cardboard sandwich sign attached to his body that said fatpacking.com. Apparently, signs that move are not in violation of the city code.

``I figured I'd walk around and see if I could attract attention," said Steven Silberberg , whose business takes people backpacking to help them lose weight. ``My marketing acumen comes right out of the 1960s. . . . I guess I'm a rebel."

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.

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[bosdevelopment]

This is absolutely absurd. Then people wonder why companies take their business to China. This is a microcosm of the nonsense American entrepreneurs have to deal with on a daily basis. So many, codes, inspectors, zoning issues, the list goes on and on. I bet you this wouldn't happen in Texas.

 

[Ron Newman]

What's odd here is that the business association is the group that wanted the sandwich boards removed -- and presumably the affected businesses are part of that association.

 

[statler]

Yeah, this whole thing is about 7 different kinds of stupid. Not quite stupid enough to make me want to pack up and move to the hell-hole wasteland that is Texas, but stupid nonetheless.

 

[BostonSkyGuy]

Yeah, this whole thing is about 7 different kinds of stupid. Not quite stupid enough to make me want to pack up and move to the hell-hole wasteland that is Texas, but stupid nonetheless.

Tell us how you really feel about Texas?

But seriously, this is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Crime is running rampant and they're worried about sandwhich boards on Newbury Street of all places.

 

[statler]

Tell us how you really feel about Texas?

Actually I shouldn't say anything about as I've never been there and I'm sure there is a lot I would love about it.

 

[bowesst]

I guess the pan-handlers who step in front of you to ask for money as you walk down the street or the group of 50 people who gather with their motorcycles and Fast and Furious cars outside of JP Licks are less of a problem than sidewalk signs.

Edit: Forgot about all the drivers who fail to notice the stop signs at almost every block of Newbury.

 

[BostonSkyGuy]

Tell us how you really feel about Texas?

Actually I shouldn't say anything about as I've never been there and I'm sure there is a lot I would love about it.

I've never been there either. To be honest, I have no desire to go there really. If I'm in the area, maybe I'll check it out but I don't see myself there anytime soon.

 

[quadratdackel]

it's the most beautiful neighborhood in the country and this is the top shopping promenade in Boston," said Meg Mainzer-Cohen , president of the Back Bay Association

And the most modest too!

There are some things I like about this neighborhood I live in. This hyper-uppitiness is certainly not one of them.

...If you like bustling, walkable cities, stear clear of Texas, or at least of Dallas and Houston. I car-rode more miles in my one weekend in Dallas than I probably have in almost three years in Boston. Houston is similar, although some friends of mine, native east coasters, say the neighborhood they live in there is reasonably walkable, although it's the exception in that respect.

 

[castevens]

I hate those sandwich boards. They're so damn convenient, telling me what specials are, informing me of prices, making me want to get food at their store until I see a fancier sandwich board. The only thing good about them is that they get in my way when I'm walking!

 

[cityrecord]

First, the Inspectional Services Department has nothing to do with monitoring crime.

Second, the signs have no business being on the sidewalk according to city regulations.

I suppose businesses should be able to just make up their own rules regarding trash disposal, parking regulations, and everything else. Boston has had laws regarding leaving signs, goods, and other things out on the sidewalks for over 170 years. This isn't something new.

As to the effect on entrepreneurs? Please. Businesses have a responsibility to abide by the rules and to know the rules. Anyone who opens a business without knowing the rules of a specific location is a fool. What a bunch of crybabies.

 

[statler]

First, the Inspectional Services Department has nothing to do with monitoring crime.

Second, the signs have no business being on the sidewalk according to city regulations.

I suppose businesses should be able to just make up their own rules regarding trash disposal, parking regulations, and everything else. Boston has had laws regarding leaving signs, goods, and other things out on the sidewalks for over 170 years. This isn't something new.

As to the effect on entrepreneurs? Please. Businesses have a responsibility to abide by the rules and to know the rules. Anyone who opens a business without knowing the rules of a specific location is a fool. What a bunch of crybabies.

There are lots of 170 year old laws on the book. I'm sure there are few that we are glad are not enforced. This law doesn't make sense. In an effort to improve they area, it actually does the opposite.

 

[cityrecord]

We will have to agree to disagree. Boston businesses have clear regulations as to their signage, furthermore, the Back Bay is an architectural conservation district which has even more stringent regulations for signs. Putting out sandwich boards on the sidewalks violates those regulations. Tickets and removal of signs are the result.

The laws may be ridiculous, maybe they should be changed. But complaining that the city is enforcing a regulation is silly.

 

[bowesst]

I think most if not all of these signs aren't out in the middle of the sidewalk but on the walkways or in front of the steps leading up to the entrance of the buildings. They aren't blocking the paths of people walking down the street.

 

[Ron Newman]

I think the signs liven up the street and do no harm. The ordinance should be repealed.

 

[bosdevelopment]

We will have to agree to disagree. Boston businesses have clear regulations as to their signage, furthermore, the Back Bay is an architectural conservation district which has even more stringent regulations for signs. Putting out sandwich boards on the sidewalks violates those regulations. Tickets and removal of signs are the result.

The laws may be ridiculous, maybe they should be changed. But complaining that the city is enforcing a regulation is silly.

You're the reason businesses choose not to stay in this state or the city.

 

[DudeUrSistersHot]

We will have to agree to disagree. Boston businesses have clear regulations as to their signage, furthermore, the Back Bay is an architectural conservation district which has even more stringent regulations for signs. Putting out sandwich boards on the sidewalks violates those regulations. Tickets and removal of signs are the result.

The laws may be ridiculous, maybe they should be changed. But complaining that the city is enforcing a regulation is silly.

You're the reason businesses choose not to stay in this state or the city.

Well, I don't know if he specifically is the reason. but it's his stupid line of thinking thats fucking this state over.

 

[Patrick]

We will have to agree to disagree. Boston businesses have clear regulations as to their signage, furthermore, the Back Bay is an architectural conservation district which has even more stringent regulations for signs. Putting out sandwich boards on the sidewalks violates those regulations. Tickets and removal of signs are the result.

The laws may be ridiculous, maybe they should be changed. But complaining that the city is enforcing a regulation is silly.

You're the reason businesses choose not to stay in this state or the city.

Well, I don't know if he specifically is the reason. but it's his stupid line of thinking thats fucking this state over.

it could be worse. i.e. maine, vermont, NH etc...mass has a lot going for itself business wise.

 

[lexicon506]

but it's his stupid line of thinking thats fucking this state over.

Why does everything you say have to be an insult to someone else? Couldn't you have said something along the lines of "I don't agree with that line of thinking because it effects..." Is it really that hard?

 

[Patrick]

but it's his stupid line of thinking thats fucking this state over.

Why does everything you say have to be an insult to someone else? Couldn't you have said something along the lines of "I don't agree with that line of thinking because it effects..." Is it really that hard?

:lol: he's just mad he lives in the suburbs :shock: