It’s tempting to think of the sign business as a glamor industry. You know…engaging with clients on issues of brand and identity, the creative rush of the design process followed by the nitty gritty of fabrication and the sheer “ummph” of the install. Yes, it’s all pretty heady stuff, to be sure. But before any of the aforementioned steps can take place, or at least take place with confidence, you have to ask permission. Which is to say that signs are, for the most part, subject to conditions. Unlike the First Amendment, the issue isn’t what you say but how you physically say it.

As it turns out, communities tend to care very deeply about signs — not because of what they communicate about the businesses that display them, but because of what they imply about the municipality in which those businesses are located. A thorough understanding of the ins and outs of city and county codes as they affect signs makes it more likely that you will maximize your opportunity to stand out. Misunderstanding them, on the other hand, could mean not only risking a penalty, but wasting marketing dollars on a sign that can’t be used. Fortunately for Meyer Sign & Advertising’s clients, we have Stefanie Lindquist on our team to make sure that this worst case scenario doesn’t happen.

Stefanie joined us just a few months ago, but she’s been a part of the Mount Vernon community since birth. We hired her to replace a long time member of our staff who was moving on to fulfill a long time personal goal, and since sign permit specialists don’t exactly grow on trees, we looked at the skill set Stefanie brought with her and we liked what we saw. Having been a receptionist in the medical industry, she understood the importance of being detail-oriented as well as supporting co-workers in a small office environment. Having taught fitness classes at the YMCA for six years, she knew what it meant to both lead people and pay attention to their needs. As the parent of a one-year old child, she clearly understood the meanings of “flexibility” and “multitasking,” not to mention “sleep deprived .” We immediately enrolled her in a crash course on “Sign Permits 101” with her predecessor.

To explain the importance of what Stefanie does to the success of our clients, I invited her to sit down with me and talk about her job. I also asked our designer, Doug Dosmann, to join us and provide some additional perspective on the relationship between good signage and municipal codes.

[Me]: How do you describe your job as a “permit specialist”?

[Stefanie]: As soon as a salesperson gets an order, it’s my job to be sure that what the client wants matches with whatever a city or county code for signs allows. I then do the permit paperwork, which can be pretty lengthy, and either submit it online or go to the city or county and submit the designs and paperwork.

[Me]: It sounds complicated.

[Stefanie): It can be. You have to make sure you do the research, make sure you double check the code and know what kinds of forms are required, read through the permit checklist, coordinate with with the salesmen and designer…it’s pretty detail oriented.

[Me]: Do most sign jobs involve a permit process?

[Stefanie]: Ninety-nine percent of the time, yes. There are some cities that will waive a permit when you’re replacing a sign of the exact same size, but most of the time you have to go through the permit process.

[Me]: What are the kinds of things that codes address pertaining to signs?

[Stefanie] The codes typically depend on where the sign is at in the city zone map, and they specify things like the size and height of the sign, and sometimes where it can be put on the property. They may also address the design and type of lighting. Every city and county is different in calculating all that. For example, Bellingham is very particular. They want to know more about what the sign is made of and how it fits in with the material of the building.

[Me]: What challenges does this create for Meyer Sign & Advertising?

[Stefanie]: Sometimes what the client wants isn’t what we can give them due to the city. Clients want to go as big as they can and as bright as they can, but most cities are pretty strict as to design, color, and lighting. It is a challenge to please the client AND abide by the city or county rules, but it usually works out.

[Doug]: Sometimes it’s a matter of educating the customer. The sales rep is responsible for letting them know what the city will allow…and we are going to do exactly what the city will allow. We aren’t going to sell clients a pipe dream and then come back and tell them that it’s not going to happen.

[Me]: What value does Meyer Sign & Advertising bring to the permit process?

[Stefanie]: It can be time consuming and confusing to read the codes and contact different people in the planning department. It’s not something the client typically has time to do while running their business. Also, codes are sometimes revised, so staying on top of them can be a moving target.

[Doug]: Our participation in the process also benefits the cities as well as clients when we can identify aspects of a code that may seem arbitrary or unclear. We’ve done a lot of education on LEDs with the city of Burlington for a corner gas station, and Martin (president of Meyer Sign & Advertising) has recently spent a lot of time presenting to the city on codes affecting signs along the I-5 corridor. Also, you sometimes have historical review boards that require the presence of someone from the sign company, and that can take up lots of time.

[Me]: What should companies consider when approaching the question of sign permits?

[Doug]: The more you know about how codes will affect your signage, and the sooner you know it, the better. Having that information and developing the design should go hand in hand, since it doesn’t make sense to do a design that isn’t going to fly.

[Stefanie]: There will be fewer surprises down the road, and we can streamline the process because we are aware of setbacks, square footages, etc. — and some landlords may have criteria that are crazy. Property owners and city codes usually coincide, but not always.

One should note in conclusion that although “goodwill ambassador” might not be written into Stefanie’s job description, she points out that behind every city codes is not only the personality of a community, but the personalities of the people that a city hires to enforce them. Like any good business relationship, getting to know these people is key to successfully working with them — which makes Stefanie’s strengths as a “people person” as important as her attention to detail on behalf of our clients. In short,“permit us” to boldly state that we’re all pretty darned lucky to have her on board.