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Police City of Pequot City Hall 218-568-8111 Lakes 218-568-5222 Fax 218-568-5647 Fax 218-568-5860 plpd @pequotlakes-mn.gov 4638 County Road 11 cityhall @pequotlakes-mn.gov Pequot Lakes,MN 56472 www.pequotlakes-mn.gov August 16, 2005 Retail Committee of Pequot Lakes Brainerd Lakes Area Chambers of Commerce P. O. Box 356 Brainerd, MN 56401 Dear Pequot Lakes Retail Business Owners: I want to start off by expressing the City's gratitude for your letter regarding the placement of signs in downtown Pequot Lakes. The communication is valued and much appreciated. Your efforts at reaching a workable solution are commendable. Despite this, and it is unfortunate,your proposed solution to part of the overall sign issue in the downtown area does not meet with the current ordinance. We have worked on the ordinance for many months, held a number of public meetings and debated at some length about signs. The current ordinance was adopted this past June. In light of this, and in light of your willingness to take the lead in this matter,the Planning Commission is directing the Staff not to enforce the current sign ordinance in the downtown area for the next six months. In this mailing, we are sending you a copy of the current ordinance as it is in effect. Between now and February 15, 2006,we invite you to work to come up with a recommendation for how this ordinance should be changed to meet the needs of the downtown business community. When we receive your recommendation, we will hold a public hearing and make changes to the ordinance, with strong consideration given to what you have proposed. When working on the ordinance, we ask you to be aware of the ramifications of the ordinance on each business. Regulating signs is difficult. If signs are too restricted, businesses can be at a disadvantage. If sign regulations allow for an"anything goes" environment,the sheer number, size and intensity of signs creates visual overload and cancels out any positive effect signage might have. There is a balance and we would highly value your input on where that balance is. Also, keep in mind that the City must enforce the ordinance. We understand some business owners have been upset with too much enforcement. Others with too little. Whatever is on the books next February must be enforced. We hope it will be something everyone can live with.