Jeff,
Thank you for understanding and fighting for small business in Haddonfield. At some point there will be nothing left to advertise. They are really clueless. Vacant stores do not add any charm nor do obnoxious green signs by the hideous kiosks. This is a simple case of "Do as I say, not as I do" When it comes to the Borough generating money they ignore rules, regulations and approvals. And so the Dictatorship of the little Fifedom continues as small businesses crash and burn.

Tish, RESIGN already! What's it been, 30 years of your outdated administration?!?! Time for you to go! Let someone with some 19th century ideas and vision lead the town into the future. We already have too many antiques in the borough. We don't need one with archaic ideas sitting in borough hall every Wednesday! Get a clue!

We put up a poll on this issue - let us know what you think.

Sponsorships listed on banners should only be regulated to the point that they did not distract attention away from the intent of the organization's banner.

This is perfect example of not governing with a little common sense and compassion. We are facing tough economic times and some practicality is in order.
There are times to bend a little when the lives of real people are being affected. Ask yourself, what represents the true spirit of our great town? is it caring about the people who struggle to keep their businesses alive or is it clinging to a rigid code that doesn't affect what our town is really about? It's important our elected officials have an eye on maintaining the proper aesthetics of the business district but these banners are not permanent. They don't affect the character of the town one iota. From a business standpoint, there's something just as important as the look of the town and that's a positive work environment and a healthy business. There's an intimate connection between small town owners and their clients. A good one leads to repeat business. Repeat business is good for the town. Be fair in your approach to the business owners. It doesn't take a financial genius to figure that out.
It's nice the mayor agrees with the historic commission but considering some of her decisions in that area it's a convenient endorsement. This all boils down to one point. You have one commissioner who gets it and two are unable to make what amounts to a common sense decision. Commissioner Kasko fully understands what's going on with an issue that's of utmost importance to our town.

(Part I)
There are areas that possibly we as a community could improve the responsiveness to and tone of our official interaction with businesses. I cannot attest to the accuracy of claims that code officials may have displayed insensitivity or brashness, or been slow to respond on matters that created costly delayed openings, etc. If there is any shred of evidence that this actions or attitudes were inappropriate, or unwelcoming or detrimental, as has been claimed, these areas should be addressed and improved upon.

However, these ongoing arguments relating to signage, etc are as old as the downtown. Aside from the unfortunate Tanner Street construction delays, I am not moved by claims that the Borough ordinances are to blame for cases of inevitable retail failures. Like it or not, retail trade in general is a high risk business pursuit. It is a fact of life. Without doing a specific market study, as a real estate professional, I would estimate that the rate of retail failures and the overall vacancy rate of the Haddonfield downtown both approximate the regional market averages, if not better.

(Part II)
Haddonfield has an historic and charming ambiance that represents a very significant portion of what in and of itself draws shoppers. If sign boards, oversized signs, giant window displays, and even neon signs were permitted, they would be everywhere and the downtown would have a completely different feel and reduced attraction to shoppers overall. Like it or not, while it would be easy to just say yes to all of these requests, it would serve to make our business district quite common, as opposed to what it is known for now, unique and uncommon. That is what drives its success.

I was not present for the discussions so in fairness to Jeff Kasko, I do not want to be critical of his opinions. However, as for the banner over Kings Highway, based upon what I have read, I completely agree with the Tish, Ed Borden and our Historic Preservation Commission that we should definitely not start allowing common commercial advertising on our non-profit organization event banners over Kings Highway. I would never even suggest such a thing for street banners for any of the non-profit Haddonfield organizations that I work with.
Bill Tourtellotte

Bill, You make excellent points that need to be recognized. The best decisions are always made when both sides of the story are debated. As you say, retail trade is a high risk business. This is true even in the best of times. That's exactly why more has to be done. As we experience truly difficult financial times, the town officials have a responsibility to act in behalf of the business owners, many of them who take a big financial risk just to keep afloat.We're not talking about oversized signs and giant window displays that are permanent. We're talking about using a little more creativity and a lot of common sense to help the people who bring revenue into the town. They deserve it. There are banners over Haddon ave and Kings highway highlighting local functions all the time. It's at the busiest part of the town and it's smart advertising. This is where Kasko gets it.

Good Lord....has anyone noticed the number of empty stores in town? We should be doing everything we can to help the merchants.; running a small business in the best of times is tough, This economy isn't going to get better any time soon and I know that they, like the residents, pay exorbitant taxes. As far as the signs being an "affront to aesthetics," Mayor Columbi....come on down to the little back yards of Lee Avenue...you'll see what an affront really is.

We have too many vacancies we need to be more business friendly

One point about the above survey. Unless the banners mysteriously gain the power to reproduce they won't spiral out of control with a little smart governing. The commissioners just need to study all sides of the issue and come up with a common sense application. We're not talking linear physics, we're talking about a few street banners to help with the downtown businesses, which, by the way, hang across kings highway and adorn the sides of the Haddonfield fortnightly to promote local events.

why not have the Borough pay for the signs then?

I believe that it is just fine to have some of the space allocated to the sponsors of an activity. It is clear, for example, that the people of Grace Church are performing some community service. Why not also make it clear that a business is also supporting that community service? In general, Amazon.com is not supporting community activity in Haddonfield. A mention of a business on a banner reminds people that some of the money spent locally stays in the community.