The new regulations will mean additional expenses for the already struggling businesses because establishment owners will have to adjust their signs, said Ta Bun Kuy, founder and former president of the Chinese Association in Saipan.
Businesspersons will always cooperate with the government and will try to avoid the penalties for noncompliance, he added.
“We will comply with the law as what we have been doing since we started operating our businesses in the commonwealth,” he said.
But, he noted, the mandated changes in the size and height of their signs and billboards will entail additional expenses.
The Zoning Law states that a sign must complement a building’s character and design, and that wall signs should avoid covering building columns.
A new commercial building should also provide a specific place for its signs.
The design, it adds, will be as simple as possible, relying on symbols to avoid needless clutter and complexity.
Light colored lettering and logos on a dark background should be used for readability, a sense of quality and design continuity, the law stated.
It also mandates that if the text of a sign is stated in other languages, there should be a translation of English with a size as large as the foreign text.
Kuy specifically questioned the prohibition of signs that flashes name of product and prices installed inside the store.
Section 1004 of the Zoning Law prohibits a ground sign taller than 12 ft in height; a sign employing moving or flashing light or video; a sign employing an exposed electrical conduit; a visible ballast box or other equipment; an audible or odor-producing sign; a building or ground sign made of cardboard or other material that resembles the structure of cardboard; an above roof sign; an off-premises sign; and a back-lit translucent awning or backlit awning sign.
A mounted or freestanding reader-board sign is also not permitted, but a cinema or community center may have a changeable letter sign.
Kuy is asking the government to give businesses enough time to comply with the new regulations.
“They can’t just penalize us for noncompliance. They should give us certain period of time,” he said.
The violation of any provision of the Zoning Law or of any permit or approval condition granted under the statute will be grounds for the suspension or revocation of a business establishment’s permit.
The Saipan and Northern Islands legislative delegation enacted the zoning law on Nov. 12, 2008. Gov. Benigno R. Fitial signed it on Dec. 5, 2008.
