“Almost two and half years now, it’s just been one obstacle after another,” he said.
Brake submitted his business plan to the city in December 2013 and had discussions with staff of the former business resource centre.
At the time Brake felt like they took his idea serious, he had a plan and had done his due diligence on it.
Part of his work includes agreement from the property owner where he’d like to put the sign and securing financial support from the Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.
After presenting his plan Brake found out there were no regulations or bylaws in place to deal with his type of business, but was told they were in the works. Up to now nothing has been put in place.
He says he’s asked about the status of those regulations and expressed interest in being part of the discussion.
Recently he went ahead and submitted a development permit for 4 Main St., the preferred location for his sign. The area is adjacent to the Corner Brook Stream and previously had a large sign erected on it.
Brake was told he couldn’t develop within 15 metres of the body of water. He questioned if that meant the property owner was restricted in doing anything with his property and told he’d need proof of the property boundary, which he got.
Then he was told the city is looking at replacing the Main Street Bridge, and the area in question could be used as a staging area during construction. The suggestion was he hold off until the bridge is done, but that could be three years.
So while Brake agrees the timing is not good, he still feels they could look for ways around it. Possibly by having his request factored into the engineering process for the bridge and keeping the permit open pending completion of the bridge.
Brake went back to the property owner to see if he would consider letting him place two signs on the roof of the building or two signs on the sides of the building. He then submitted two more development permits for that in February.
Brake has now been told his applications are currently scheduled for review by a standing committee of council this week.
The Western Star sent requests to the city for an interview. Coun. Mary Ann Murphy, chair of the community services committee, responded to say digital signage is on the agenda for discussion at a community, development and planning meeting scheduled for today. The city expects to provide more details at a later time.
City already approving signage: Brake
Ray Brake, the owner of Digital Advertising Solutions, is questioning what he sees as a double standard.
With no development regulations in place regarding digital signage, he’s wondering how the city was able to put a digital advertising sign up on the bottom of University Drive for the Corner Brook civic centre. He says he’s yet to get a response to that question.
Brake is up front with sharing that he did approach the city with an offer to partner with it on the sign, but the city decided to go it alone.
He said speaking out is not about making the city look bad or because it wouldn’t work with him on the civic centre sign.
“All I want to do is run my business.”
Despite a feeling of being pushed to the sidelines, he can’t just walk away.
As such he’s diversified and has five digital boards at three venues, allowing him to work indoors and avoid the red tape of development. He’s also started to explore other sites for the outdoor sign.
“Almost two and half years now, it’s just been one obstacle after another,” he said.
Brake submitted his business plan to the city in December 2013 and had discussions with staff of the former business resource centre.
At the time Brake felt like they took his idea serious, he had a plan and had done his due diligence on it.
Part of his work includes agreement from the property owner where he’d like to put the sign and securing financial support from the Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.
After presenting his plan Brake found out there were no regulations or bylaws in place to deal with his type of business, but was told they were in the works. Up to now nothing has been put in place.
He says he’s asked about the status of those regulations and expressed interest in being part of the discussion.
Recently he went ahead and submitted a development permit for 4 Main St., the preferred location for his sign. The area is adjacent to the Corner Brook Stream and previously had a large sign erected on it.
Brake was told he couldn’t develop within 15 metres of the body of water. He questioned if that meant the property owner was restricted in doing anything with his property and told he’d need proof of the property boundary, which he got.
Then he was told the city is looking at replacing the Main Street Bridge, and the area in question could be used as a staging area during construction. The suggestion was he hold off until the bridge is done, but that could be three years.
So while Brake agrees the timing is not good, he still feels they could look for ways around it. Possibly by having his request factored into the engineering process for the bridge and keeping the permit open pending completion of the bridge.
Brake went back to the property owner to see if he would consider letting him place two signs on the roof of the building or two signs on the sides of the building. He then submitted two more development permits for that in February.
Brake has now been told his applications are currently scheduled for review by a standing committee of council this week.
The Western Star sent requests to the city for an interview. Coun. Mary Ann Murphy, chair of the community services committee, responded to say digital signage is on the agenda for discussion at a community, development and planning meeting scheduled for today. The city expects to provide more details at a later time.
City already approving signage: Brake
Ray Brake, the owner of Digital Advertising Solutions, is questioning what he sees as a double standard.
With no development regulations in place regarding digital signage, he’s wondering how the city was able to put a digital advertising sign up on the bottom of University Drive for the Corner Brook civic centre. He says he’s yet to get a response to that question.
Brake is up front with sharing that he did approach the city with an offer to partner with it on the sign, but the city decided to go it alone.
He said speaking out is not about making the city look bad or because it wouldn’t work with him on the civic centre sign.
“All I want to do is run my business.”
Despite a feeling of being pushed to the sidelines, he can’t just walk away.
As such he’s diversified and has five digital boards at three venues, allowing him to work indoors and avoid the red tape of development. He’s also started to explore other sites for the outdoor sign.
