signage

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Mixed Signals During Fire Alarms at Senior Facility — During fire alarms at The Jefferson senior living facility in Ballston, a recorded voice tells residents to evacuate the 21-story building via the stairwell. Except, for safety reasons, most residents are supposed to remain in their condo with the door shut. This has confused some elderly residents, who risked injury by attempting to walk down long flights of stairs during fire alarms. While acknowledging the inconsistency, both building management and the fire department say they can’t change the recorded message due to “liability” reasons. [Washington Post]

Politico Reporters to Speak at Rosslyn Lecture Series — Politico White House reporter Julie Mason and congressional reporter Jonathan Allen will be the speakers at Rosslyn’s “Rooms with a View” lecture series next week. Mason and Allen will discuss “Washington’s divided political landscape” and take questions from the audience. The event is free (RSVP required). It will be held on Thursday, May 19, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Boeing conference center at 1200 Wilson Boulevard. [Rosslyn BID]

Papery Closing Rumors — There’s more evidence that Clarendon stationery store The Papery may be closing, despite employees’ insistence that they’re preparing to add new stock to the largely empty shelves. The Papery’s space is listed as “for lease” on a commercial real estate firm’s web site. And The Papery’s own web site no longer exists. [Clarendon Culture]

Sign Needed at Rosslyn Safeway? — Is a one-way sign needed across from the Rosslyn Safeway to prevent confused drivers from heading the wrong way on Wilson Boulevard? [Ode Street Tribune]

Revised Sign Regulations On the Way

By ARLnow.com

New sign regulations may be ready for adoption by the fall, Arlington County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said at this afternoon’s board meeting.

Zimmerman said that the board and county staff have been listening to feedback from business owners, many of whom bemoan the county’s sign ordinance as too restrictive. The county is still in the process of collecting comments on its web site and some additional sign focus groups are in the works, Zimmerman said.

County staff will work with a consultant to review the feedback and to review “best practices from around the country on sign regulation.” A draft copy of some of the regulation changes should be ready for review by the board and community groups in July. If all goes well, Zimmerman hopes to have the new sign ordinance ready for adoption “in the fall.”

The goal, Zimmerman said, is to “make business easier to do in Arlington and make the process better for everyone.”

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

The Salsa Room Starts Serving Mexican Cuisine — Best known as a dance club, The Salsa Room (2619 Columbia Pike) has relaunched with a new food menu. Gone is the Bolivian food from the location’s days as Cecilia’s Restaurant. In its place are Mexican dishes like fajitas, chimichangas and fish tacos. A Sunday brunch menu will launch on June 5. Yesterday the restaurant offered a 50 percent off Groupon (the deal has since ended).

New Library Hours — Starting July 1, the library will expand the hours at certain branches on certain days. Among the branches with new hours: Columbia Pike, Shirlington, Westover, Aurora Hills, Cherrydale, and Glencarlyn. Central Library hours will not change. [Library Hours]

Samuel Beckett’s Sign Requests Denied — Mark Kirwan, owner of Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub in Shirlington, is an outspoken critic of the county regulations, and it’s no wonder why. Kirwan has spent thousands on signs and county fees, only to have many of his sign requests denied. Among the rejections: branded table umbrellas, Celtic window graphics and a menu near the door. [Washington Examiner]

Stats on Juvenile Offenders in Arlington — Among the statistics revealed about juvenile justice in Arlington: one quarter of all juveniles placed in probation in Arlington is a student at Washington-Lee High School. [Connection Newspapers]

Missing Neighborhood Sign Found

By ARLnow.com

A granite sign that went missing from the side of Columbia Pike has been found.

The sign (shown above, before it went missing) was placed on the east end of Columbia Heights to announce to drivers that they were entering the neighborhood. On Tuesday we reported that it had disappered.

Christine Nixon, chief of the county’s Neighborhood Services Division, said someone may have tried to steal the sign and then simply gave up.

“Parties unknown at present unscrewed the sign and left it lying in the median,” Nixon said in an email last night. “It’s really, really heavy so I’m assuming that they tried to lift it and couldn’t. Our keen-eyed folks at [the Parks Department] noticed the sign lying there and picked it up and took it to their storage area. So we are going to reinstall it shortly with bolts that can’t easily be unscrewed (and maybe a more attractive rear view).”

The sign would have cost $900 to replace.

Neighborhood Sign Goes Missing on the Pike

By ARLnow.com

A granite sign, recently installed along Columbia Pike, has gone missing.

The sign announced to folks heading westbound on the Pike that they were entering the Columbia Heights neighborhood. It was installed several months after the County Board approved a $12,500 neighborhood sign project for Columbia Heights.

Christine Nixon, chief of the county’s Neighborhood Services Division, says the sign itself cost about $900.

“They don’t disappear very often because they’re very heavy,” she said. “We do have a fund that we use to replace signs — more often then being stolen they get run into by very, very impaired drivers — so [the department] will be ordering a new one shortly. If the missing one turns up later we will keep it in storage for eventual use.”

Nixon added: “It is frustrating to have County property stolen, particularly since the design and siting process is something that volunteers spend a lot of time on.”

Photos of the sign from two weeks ago are shown below. At the time, we took note of the fact that the aesthetics of the newly-installed sign, when viewed from behind, were a bit lacking.

Does Artisphere Need More Signs?

By ARLnow.com

As we all know, signs are generally frowned upon in Arlington County. That’s why it takes a 22-page staff analysis and a vote by the county board to put some banners up around a construction fence.

But is part of the solution to the attendance woes at Artisphere are few prominently-placed signs telling people where it is?

Doug Galbi of the Ode Street Tribune thinks so. In a blog post entitled “Artisphere needs more signs,” Galbi says that many Rosslyn visitors may be unaware that the multi-million dollar cultural center even exists.

“Artisphere’s large revenue and visitor shortfall may be due in large part to lack of public awareness,” he writes. “Persons traveling through the busy intersection of Wilson Blvd. and Lynn St. could easily be unaware that they are less than 100 yards from the DC-area’s most inviting arts venue.”

Galbi suggests that signs pointing to Artisphere could be added to the Central Space to Central Space public square, across from the Rosslyn Metro. What do you think?

Flickr pool photo by Afagen

Arlington Holds ‘Sign Workshop’ With Business Owners

By Katie Pyzyk

Changes are coming to the rules that regulate signs in Arlington. The county held a workshop at Washington-Lee High School last night to gather community input on reworking the current sign ordinance.

Many business owners believe the current rules are restrictive and confusing. County Board Chair Chris Zimmerman agrees. He says the ordinance is too stringent and focuses on the wrong things.

The board “can be little more liberal in our approach” to signs, Zimmerman said.

Right now, the county is still in the information gathering process. Staff members believe Tuesday’s meeting was productive in coming up with ideas for improvement, and are impressed with the turnout of around 50 people.

“There are a number of different goals to balance, but the feedback will definitely help to develop the ordinance,” said county planner Deborah Albert.

Business owners presented a variety of examples illustrating how the current rules hurt them. Some cited an inability to draw in customers without proper signage. Others claim developers seek out other areas to build once they hear of the regulations. Many said it simply detracts from their efforts at branding.

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Small Business Owners Decry Taxes, Sign Ordinance

By ARLnow.com

What’s on the mind of local entrepreneurs? A lot, as it turns out.

On Thursday night Arlington County held a small business ‘listening session’ at Clarendon Ballroom. More than 50 business owners showed up to tell county staff what they like and don’t like about how the county treats small businesses.

The event was part of County Board Chair Chris Zimmerman’s year-long push to make Arlington more small-business-friendly. Zimmerman gave the opening and closing remarks at the event, but it was county planning and economic development staff who led the group discussions that were the evening’s main substance.

Among the things business owners liked about doing business in Arlington were the friendly personal interactions with county employees, the frequent county programs that teach you how to create a business plan, and the relative ease of running a home-based business. As expected, however, complaints far out-numbered compliments.

There was discussion of the advantages larger businesses have over smaller businesses when trying to navigate the county’s regulations and talk of loosening regulations preventing small businesses from participating in certain citizen-oriented programs. By and large, however, the discussion focused on three areas: clarity and accessibility of information, taxes and fees, and the county’s controversial sign ordinance.

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Board Approves Sign Enforcement Measure

By ARLnow.com

The county board voted unanimously on Saturday to beef up the county’s ability to go after companies that willfully violate Arlington’s stringent sign ordinance.

A new amendment to the Zoning Ordinance will make it illegal for “a firm, corporation, owner, agent or occupant” to cause or “knowingly” permit signs to be placed in the public right of way. Before the amendment, only individuals could be punished, and only if they were spotted physically placing the sign.

County Manager Barbara Donnellan recommended the amendment to help rein in rogue companies that place signs on weekends or in the middle of the night, when county zoning inspectors are not on the job.

The amendment will not change which signs are prohibited — certain signs, like temporary non-commercial and real estate-related directional signs and political signs during election season, will remain exempt — but it will instead enhance the county’s ability to enforce the ordinance, Donnellan said.

Initially, several board members objected to the possibility that under the amendment, community groups could be held criminally responsible for signs about pot luck dinners, blood drives and the like. They were assured, however, that county staff works with such groups to make sure their signs comply with the law. The biggest commercial violators, staff suggested, would be the primary target of the new enforcement powers.

During consideration of the amendment, County Board Chair Chris Zimmerman expressed frustration with the sign ordinance itself.

“Arlington’s approach to signage overall has been focused in the wrong places,” Zimmerman said. “We are overly restrictive in some areas where I don’t think we should be, and we don’t regulate in some areas where I think we should.”

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Winter Weather Advisory in Effect — Expect 1-2 inches of snow today, says the National Weather Service. The flakes should start falling between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. The advisory is in effect until 9:00 p.m. More from Weather.com.

John Boehner Likes Guapo’s — House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) apparently enjoys drowning his sorrows at the Guapo’s in Shirlington. Boehner, who famously called the Bush administration’s immigration reform bill a “piece of s—,” reportedly dined at the Mexican restaurant on Tuesday. It was his second visit in a month, according to Shirlington Village Blogspot,

Arlington Sign Ordinance Update to Start in January — County officials will begin the process of updating the county’s 60-year-old sign ordinance in January. The ordinance has attracted considerable controversy this year, including a high-profile lawsuit from one business owner. More from TBD and the Sun Gazette.

Free WiFi coming to DCA, IAD — Reagan National and Dulles airports will both be offering free wireless internet service as soon as this spring. More from the Washington Examiner.

Flickr pool photo by Chris Rief

Bayou Bakery Gets New Sign

By ARLnow.com

The Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe sign has finally come down from 1515 North Courthouse Road.

A Bayou Bakery sign will be taking its place later today, staff tells us.

Bayou will be open for breakfast and lunch but will close at 5:00 p.m. for the rest of the week, except for Thursday when it will be closed for Thanksgiving.

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