Digital Signs Proposal Advances in St. Mary's
 

By Kenneth C. Rossignol
ST. MARY'S TODAY

LEONARDTOWN (Dec. 2, 2008) --- St. Mary’s County’s limping and leaping towards dozens of blinking, flashing and blazing digital signs located in every town, village center and commercial area moved ahead on last Monday night with a plan proposed by staff and jumped on immediately by a would-be commercial sign company.

A St. Mary’s land use and growth management official told the St. Mary’s Planning Commission that the staff had looked at ordinances in Charles, Anne Arundel, Montgomery and Prince Georges and had come up with a plan which would allow the signs.

Calvert County simply does not allow digital signs and is very restrictive on all outdoor advertizing.  Signs are not allowed to be elevated, are required to be landscaped, built with brick and stone and not allowed to flash out onto highways. 

Under tough questioning from several commissioners at the Monday evening meeting, the staffer admitted that the signs could change messages as often as five seconds, have jumping and dancing logos, pictures and animation.

Restrictions on these items were discussed. The idea of jumping pictures and money dropping from trees wasn't greeted by some commissioners while others may endorse the garish and glitzy.

Former county permits director Robin Guyther, who is now in the private practice of obtaining permits for developers, explained that he was representing Van Aldridge who proposes to erect a sign on the northbound side of Rt. 235, on vacant land which the Aldridge family had proposed to build a car dealership. 

 The proposed dealership stalled as the land could never acquire proper zoning and instead the land was cleared with all of the debris left behind in huge piles 30 feet high as a poke in the eye to neighbors who opposed the commercial use of what had been a residential neighborhood. In addition to leaving huge piles of debris on the property, used vehicles for sale have been parked on the land in recent months.

Now with a flashing, blazing digital fireworks blasting across the land, down the highway and also aimed at the Woodland Acres neighborhood, the Aldridge’s might get their last laugh and make a little money too.

Guyther told the commissioners that 10 % of every hour’s worth of time would be reserved for charitable and government messages.

Planning Commissioner Shelby Guazzo noted that many other landowners around the county could adopt the same scheme and build even more signs.

The best friend of developers on the commission, Merle Evans, pushed ahead for approval of the signs but Chairman Steve Reeves, who noted he had never seen one of two non-conforming existing digital signs, located at Maryland Bank & Trust branch bank at the Hickory Hills Center in California (its been there since 1985), suggested that the matter be held over for another meeting.

Commissioner Susan McNeil said that more time for the public to comment on the signs needs to be allowed before the commission makes a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners. The commission agreed to leave the proposal on for the next meeting on Dec. 8th.

 The county commissioners have virtually already made a decision as the Good Old Boy coalition of Kenny Dement (R. Piney Point) and the three Democrats, Dan. Raley, Tommy Mattingly and Jackie Russell have all previously expressed approval of the proposal which had been made by Mattingly, on behalf of a secret businessman whom Mattingly never disclosed in his presentation in September.

McNeil told the staff that she was disappointed that the county proposal wasn’t as restrictive as federal standards for digital signs.

Reeves said that it was brought to his attention that an oil change firm located on Rt. 235 had a single line digital sign which was illegally erected.

Guyther said that his client was simply trying to save the county from all of the fluttering signs allowed for non-profit groups by organizing them on their big $100,000 sign, which would allot, in their heartfelt support of non-profit groups, 6 minutes per hour.

Guyther even said that his client would be willing to commit itself to a per-hour display of digital messages imploring those passing by in traffic to be exposed to all sorts of non-commercial messages; perhaps to attend church, eat more oysters and to say no to drugs.

The proposal would allow about a dozen digital signs, all blazing, blaring, fading and flashing just on the southbound side of Rt. 235 between Rt. 4 and the main gate (Gate 2) of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.

Basically, what is in the future for St. Mary's County is to have its main drag decorated like Las Vegas while much of the technology corridor is lined with green office buildings, the signs will beckon back to the old days of slot machines, strip clubs and bars.