City decides not to pursue rules for banner signs

The city of Greencastle does not have any regulations for banner signs and it appears it's going to stay that way.

Members of the city plan commission decided this week not to do anything about creating regulations for banners after previously indicating that they might.

City Planner Shannon Norman said she researched what other cities have in place for regulating banners, but she recommended that the board not try to tackle the issue.

"I don't know that regulating them further is the answer," she said.

Even though there are no specific regulations for the size of the banners or how long they can be hung, there are some general rules that still apply, Norman explained, such as the signs cannot block the city right-of-way or impede traffic on the streets.

Other than that, there are no regulations for banners, she said.

Plan commission member Mark Hammer said there were a few "bad apples" in town, indicating that a small number of businesses have perhaps abused the privilege of using banners.

Although they did not give a name, the board seemed to be zeroing in on one particular businesses near the downtown area that displayed a banner on the front of the buildings for several months. Board members said they wanted to prevent this from happening in the future.

City Attorney Laurie Hardwick said she could think of only a few instances of abuse.

Norman suggested that if the board were to look at regulating the banners, they may want to start with time limits. But in the end, board members consented not to pursue the issue at this time.