As a planning and zoning commissioner, I.G. Burton just pushed through a new Sussex County sign-and-billboard ordinance. Now Burton would like your vote for the District 3 seat on county council.
When it was conceived more than a year ago, the ordinance was intended to reform and simplify 30-year-old rules, as well as to address the visual pollution that is rapidly ruining the landscape along major roads in the county. Instead, under Burton’s leadership, the new ordinance gives sign companies a virtual blank check to create even more and bigger eyesores.
The new maze of regulations - created with the sign companies themselves acting as advisors - will allow taller and larger signs on our highways. And it will allow advertisers to put those stupefying electronic signs in residential neighborhoods with a mere conditional-use permit.
The old rules were so complex and inconsistent that it was virtually impossible to enforce them. But the new rules are even more so. For instance, electronic signs are not permitted to “flash,” but they can be “animated” and images can “dissolve.” Can you imagine being a code enforcement officer and having to make that distinction?
The new ordinance is such a travesty that Burton’s own Republican colleague, Councilman George Cole, called parts of it “just wrong,” said its passage would “mislead the public,” and asked, “Why are we playing this game?” In an editorial condemning the ordinance, the Cape Gazette called the process “arrogant.”
Sussex County Council does not need another member willing to turn over the reins of government to special interests.
Fortunately, there is a great alternative. Leslie Ledogar, Burton’s District 3 opponent, has long experience in environmental law, working in both the private and public sectors. She has committed her campaign to smart growth that balances development and infrastructure.
As a volunteer for her campaign, I’ve come to know her as a person with the character and integrity that we all hope for in a public servant. Just as important, she has the strength and independence to stand firm against so-called “reforms” that further add to the uglification of Sussex County. I am voting for her Tuesday, Nov. 8. I hope you do too!
Jennifer Schultz
Lewes
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