Yonge St. sign blitz demands compliance

Doorway signage like this at Yonge and Wellesley is the target of a by-law enforcement campaign that has business owners confused over what the city considers appropriate.

Confusion continues to reign at Yonge and Wellesley where at least one business owner has been told to remove street-level signage.

Despite calls from The Bulletin to clarify the nature of compliance action taken by by-law enforcement officers in late September, clarification from the Municipal Licensing and Standards office has only recently come, and that via councilor Kyle Rae’s office.

According to an e-mail from Rae, sent to one business owner threatened with sign removal, the supervisor of Municipal Licensing and Standards has stated: “The purpose of the blitz was to identify and ensure signs that require permits, do so. Under bylaw Ch 297- 4 it stipulates the requirements necessary to apply for a permit. If businesses require more time to prepare the application, we are willing to deal with them individually. If we do not see the signs removed or any attempt to apply for a permit, then the signs will be removed at the cost to the owner.”

The e-mail continues, “This exercise was not intended as anything other than an attempt to clean up the facade of the Yonge St area and to bring signs into compliance. As you know their are a number of derelict and illegal signs bringing down the visual beauty of the Yonge St corridor.”

Rae added a comment that “as you can see, this isn’t an attempt to get you to remove the sign or to put you out of business, it is an effort by City staff to get compliance with Chapter 297-4 of the Toronto Municipal Code. I believe that inspector Anthony Burda who visited your shop and issued the Notice also gave you information on how to apply for a sign permit. In case this isn’t the case, please let me know and we will see that an application gets sent to you.”