Advancing technology has one municipality looking to catch up by amending ordinances on signs.
Allenhurst City Council members struggled to come to a decision Monday evening about a scrolling sign at Tin Can Sam's discount grocery store.
For months, store owner Samantha Bishop has seen the government table the ruling, postponing her hopes of moving her sign from a store window to the side of Highway 84 for better advertising.
"It's been in this, right here (city council), since October or November of last year," Bishop told the council. "This is just ridiculous."
Even part of the council was ready to put the issue to rest.
"If we can't get a sign ordinance passed, then God help us if we try to do anything else," Councilman Douglas Burgess said.
Mayor Thomas Hines seemed to agree when he introduced the agenda item.
"I'd like to solve this this evening, if we could," Hines said. "I don't see a problem
with them having the sign as long as they
follow the guidelines that the county has for the signs."
After reading Liberty County's draft amendments to the sign ordinance, Allenhurst Councilman Carl Easton moved to postpone the decision until after the Liberty County Commission votes on the issue Sept. 2 to see its action.
The ordinance changes that are up for the county's approval would not allow flashing and moving signs.
If Allenhurst decides to adopt only the
items the county proposed in the draft, the scrolling sign at Tin Can Sam's would not be allowed.
Debra Attical from the Liberty County Planning Commission said the town can make stipulations in its own ordinance to allow for scrolling signs.
Attical said the city of Hinesville has a few LED signs that flash and move, such as Hinesville Ford’s sign on Highway 84, because the city made provisions in independent ordinances.
In other business, the city of Allenhurst unanimously voted to sign the resolution and memorandum of understanding for the Fort Stewart Growth Management Partnership under the condition that it would not be charged more than $1,500 in the matching funds required by the municipalities participating in the organization.
"There may be some benefit to this," Councilwoman Amanda Cox said. "I think it will be worthwhile to at least hear what's offered and we're not going to able to do that if we're not going to participate."