The city council agreed to a moratorium on enforcement of “feathered flags” and other signage in the Central Business District after various downtown business owners addressed the council during Monday’s council meeting.
Once the emergency orders due to Covid were lifted, the city began to provide education, and then enforcement, said City Administrator Ryan Stevens. “The flags draw customers into our businesses that might otherwise continue to walk past,” said Debbie Lake, chair of the Downtown Business Alliance. “I actually had a customer tell me today that because of the trees and because of the glare a lot of times on windows, it’s hard to see the open signs and she would know that our businesses were open when she would drive by and see the flags that would attract people into the shops.
But business owners have reported decreased sales since they have been told to remove their feathered flags earlier this year.