Sign sign everywhere a sign

I know some of your remember that song. It was by the Five Man Electrical Band. I wonder what ever became of them. But this post isn't about music. It's all about signs.


One of the big no-no’s discussed at that town hall meeting the other night was the use of signs. For some reason the people of our great island are opposed to signs. They of course were directing this complaint toward one person who just happened to be the owner of the winery. It was just one of many complaints that the planning board heard from the good citizens of Wadmalaw.

The person leading the discussion objected to the winery signs because they are “not part of the natural scenery of the island.” However there are lots of other signs on the same road which also are ‘not part of the natural scenery’ and no one complained about them. It was obvious to me that the real complaint isn’t about signs at all. However after giving it some thought, I agree that it would be great not to see any signs at all on our “natural” island. In the letter that I sent to the planning board today, I countered the complaint with a few sign complaints of my own.

So on my way home today I took note of the signs that I saw wondering how these same people would feel if we took them down as well. That is what they were asking for anyway and I aim to please.

The first sign on our island is an advertisement sign for a benefit 5k Run this weekend. No since beating around the bush, let’s get rid of it. Next I came to the speed limit sign. People don’t follow them anyway so take it down. The directional sign at the fork in the road…….Who needs it. Our island is only 40 square miles so anyone could drive the entire island in a few hours.

At the fork there were also business signs, political signs still up after the election and a huge land for sale sign. It has been there for several years and the complainer at the meeting mentioned that one particular winery sign had been up for two weeks. Two years is a lot worse than two weeks. Take them down I say. Now we are getting natural aren’t we? Up around the corner was a happy 40th birthday sign which is totally unnecessary. I wasn’t invited anyway. Watch out here comes the intersection where the stop sign is. It is going to be dangerous without that sign.

I counted over two hundred signs on our street alone. It is 7 miles long though. Now that all the signs are gone, everyone should be happy. Only one more block to go and I think we will have them all, Oh I see one more and yes it has to go too. A sign is a sign and according the planning board all signs are bad.



Hey I don’t make the rules. I just abide by them. There is everyone happy now? The truth is there were only 4 very small signs that said “winery” and had a small arrow showing which direction to go. There are thousands of other signs on the island so what is the big deal about the winery signs? We are back to “they have and I want.” No one complained when they weren’t making any money. Now that they are, everyone wants a piece of the pie. But what’s wrong with that anyway. It’s ok to want what your neighbor has isn’t it?

“You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” I mean 9 out of 10 isn’t bad…….

Be careful what you ask for or wish for. You just may get it.

Have a great day,
Greg