To the editor:
People anxious to turn Brown County into a more thriving metropolis often overlook our local citizenry in favor of the tourists.
Do those of us living here for the beauty of the countryside and small-town feel really want our attention commanded by a brightly lit, electronic message board in motion every time we shop at Salt Creek Plaza?
If one of the reasons for the need of a glitzier sign is the far distance from the road, then perhaps this is one of the mistakes made in acquiring that particular piece of $2 million real estate from the Snyder family.
Changing a county ordinance to justify distracting advertising as a means to show that we are up-to-date on how we communicate with tourists, as one person at the APC meeting proposed, seems a bit silly. How do other businesses communicate in this modern era? They take advantage of a thing called the internet via a business website. People are already accustomed to necks of angled posturing to obtain information via cellphones. Those desiring concert date information the old-fashioned way can still get it by finding a free copy of Our Brown County Magazine just about any way they look.
My suggestion is to engage a more traditional, artistic sign with colors that compliment the surroundings. Make the sign big if you must. It will still cost the county less than a “movie-like” sign and will be less offensive in nature. Let’s not make this a subtle sign of transformation into Nashville becoming another Gatlinburg, because Gnaw Bone would make a perfect Pigeon Forge. Tourists may love it, but not those who have to live with it.
In three years or so, if the arts center is hurting for attendance such that Maple Leaf officials think attention-grabbing bright lights are a make-or-break proposition, then reconsider it. Otherwise, you’re opening up a real fight for the signage rights of similar businesses. In reading earlier comments, the scope of this new venue appears controversial enough by itself to not introduce a proposal for controversial signage that may or may not be needed at this stage.
They say a good pun every now and then lightens it up, but in a good way.
Mike Kelley, Stone Head
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