Protection of beauty or prevention of commerce?!
Written on April 16, 2010 by jallen14
The following (or, something very similar) will appear in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and on mtbusiness.com in the coming days. We wanted to give you Dee-O-Gee fans a taste, in case you miss it from other sources. If this is something that “strikes a chord” with you – you could send an email to the Bozeman City Commission at agenda@bozeman.net
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Dear Editor,
The City of Bozeman has long been known for having a very strict sign code for businesses. In part, this has led to the preservation of the beauty of the Gallatin Valley by limiting the audacity of signage normally displayed by large corporate “box” stores. But, does this the rigid enforcement of out-of-date sign codes, masked as “preservation”, come at a high price for local businesses? This question has come to light recently as the Bozeman City sign code enforcer has issued a citation (and, hefty fines) to Dee-O-Gee in Bozeman for their unique window murals featuring photographs of dogs (photography from Loneman Photography in Bozeman). The City of Bozeman is also attempting to force Dee-O-Gee to remove their new murals (and, even threatening jail time!) – likely leading to a loss of newly generated business traffic as well as the expense of the murals. Dee-O-Gee is an all-natural pet supply & services store on Main St. in Bozeman (www.dee-o-gee.com) – locally owned by native Montanans, Josh & Holly Allen.
Dee-O-Gee window murals (see images below) are tasteful, appropriate, enlivening and effectively convey the spirit of Bozeman – a great dog town. The rigid enforcement of Bozeman’s obscure 20-year-old sign code does not take into account creative and diverse modern signage and technologies and is indeed a hindrance to local business. The City of Bozeman should be ashamed for claiming to support locally owned business development in the Gallatin Valley. City sign ordinances must be flexible to allow the generation of commerce! Common sense must rule in the application and enforcement of code, across our great state. An enforcement to remove the Dee-O-Gee window murals is simply bureaucracy at it’s worst, truly!
As a Montana native and local business owner in Bozeman, I highly encourage all cities across Montana (Bozeman, especially) to carefully review your opposition to signage for local business and ask yourselves the larger question; which is, how can the role of city administrators vitalize our community rather than antagonize commerce and common sense?!
I will be writing a letter to the City to express my displeasure at their latest move against locally owned business.
The murals in the windows of Dee-O-Gee provide color and beauty to an otherwise bland and, at least regarding one corner of the intersection, ugly area of Main Street. The City should focus on those areas of downtown that are unattractive instead of worrying about some lovely signage in a doggie boutique.
I wrote to your city commission!! Told them even a person from Maine is outraged that you’d be fined. For cryin’ out loud, they’re pictures of dogs! How does that cause someone harm?