Mixed Reactions at Discussion of Freeway Signs

Elk Grove residents were given a few options Wednesday night: the city could become like Dixon or Woodland, be like Folsom or Davis, or be something completely different.

City staff held a to ask residents how the city should regulate signs along the freeway and elsewhere in Elk Grove. Currently, only businesses that have property along Highway 99 or Interstate 5 are allowed to put up signs facing the freeway (like Dixon and Woodland), and even then the signs must be within a certain size. not adjacent to the freeway has asked for that policy to be changed (Folsom and Davis allow off-site freeway signs).

The 40 attendees at Wednesday's meeting participated in , and 64 percent said the Elk Grove City Council should at least consider changing the 2006 law governing signs.

Resident Steve Lee criticized the city's questions as being subjective and leading toward a specific outcome.

"We're doing OK the way it is," Lee said. "People are still finding those [businesses without signs along the freeway]."

Attendee Jacqueline Moore disagreed, saying the 2006 sign ordinance should be eased because so many more businesses are struggling now, and added advertisement could help them.

"The problem is we're not in [the economic conditions] we were in 2006," Moore said. "You can't just get locked into one place and refuse to change."

Three members of the city council attended the meeting, and Council Member Steve Detrick said he wants to look at changing the sign ordinance, as long as it's done correctly.

"Look at the various businesses that are struggling," Detrick said. "It's time the city walks the talk."

At one point in the meeting, Gil Moore (no relation to Jacqueline Moore) stood and identified himself as the "black sheep" who is planning the Sheldon Road development. He insisted he only wants to help the community, and said he was "the only one with the cojones" to do so by bringing new businesses to Elk Grove.

He recalled a Wendy's eatery he once oversaw that earned $15,000 a week; once a freeway sign was built, the store's revenue jumped to $22,000 a week, he said. He also said without a freeway sign, he won't be able to convince McDonald's to open a store at his planned location.

Gil Moore began to tout the attractions he hopes to bring to Sheldon Road, but was eventually cut off by city staff, who reminded him that the purpose of Wednesday's meeting was to talk about the sign ordinance, not any particular project.

The city council is scheduled to discuss the issue on June 27.

Elk Grove, where do you fall on this issue? What do you want to see when driving down the freeway? What do you think of freeway interchange signs in other areas? Tell us in the comments.