Tuesday, February 4, 2014 - 17:47 Press Release

Concern about the appearance of commercial signs and displays along Highway 12 in the village has prompted some local residents to ask the Ocracoke Planning Board and the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association to look into revising the current sign ordinance.

In November, the OCBA asked the Planning Board about this and they decided that this is a business concern and turned it back to the OCBA. The OCBA in December appointed Tom Pahl to chair an ad hoc committee to determine if voluntary rules adopted by businesses that choose to participate would suffice, or would these not work without the force of law.

The first committee meeting will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, in the Ocracoke Community Center. All business owners and residents are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The meeting will address the following questions:

Do we really need to do anything new, or is the status quo OK?
What about the existing sign ordinance? Is it being enforced?
What do other counties and jurisdictions do?
Can voluntary compliance work?
Should we go forward from this meeting, and if so:

--Should we develop a new set of rules (or amend the existing rules):
--What should the process be?
--What are the goals?
--How can we be sure the process includes a full array of viewpoints?

Please join us and be a part of the process.