By Dale M. King and John Johnston

CITY EDITOR and MANAGING EDITOR

The issue of banner signs on fences of school athletic fields in Boca Raton and throughout Palm Beach County has been debated, negotiated and, in many cases, negated.

The matter is coming up again in Boca Raton – and City Manager Leif Ahnell says he’s leaving little wiggle room for exceptions to a city ordinance that normally would ban all the signs.

Officials in City Hall –specifically the offices of the mayor and City Council – say they’ve been bombarded with letters – mostly form letters – from parents of Omni Middle School students who want to keep the outward facing signs on fences at that education center located a stone’s throw from Spanish River High School.

The letters say that high schools will be allowed to keep the banner signs facing out, although they must conform to a proposed size, type and material.  However, the proposal prohibits outward facing signs at middle schools.

That’s the essence of what City Manager Leif Ahnell has said.  When the matter came before the council months ago, he said city ordinances prohibit signs from all fences around school athletic fields, but the city has been cutting high schools some slack.

Ahnell told the Boca Raton News that he spoke with the Palm Beach County School Board and reached a compromise that will allow high schools in Boca Raton to display the outward facing signs.  But middle and elementary schools can’t.

Sign Revenue

He disagreed with the letter, which says that the middle and elementary signs are banned because those schools are located in residential districts.  Ahnell said high schools derive considerable revenue from the signs, and much of the money supports athletic programs.

The city manager said middle and elementary schools do not have organized athletic programs that require funding from outside sources.

It appears the matter will come to the council floor at a future meeting.  At the top of one of the Omni letters is a paragraph that says: Attention parents, please sign and mail in the letter below.”  It claims that the city intends to cut “one-third of the money raised by the Omni PTSA that goes directly to your child for their education.”

“The city and the residents of Boca Raton are ultimately the beneficiaries of top-rated schools with quality programs,” the letter says.  “However, these programs come with a price that is not fully funded by the state and school district.”

”We would ask the city council to support our school and adopt our recommendation to grant Omni Middle School the same right as Spanish River High with respect to placement of outward facing signs,” the letter adds.

Blind Eye

Earlier this year, it was a different story in unincorporated Palm Beach County when Palm Beach County commissioners agreed to, effectively, change horses in mid-stream.

The issue of advertising signs flooding fences in front of virtually every public school in the county has been simmering for several years.  The question has been debated by the Palm Beach County school board on several occasions – with most wanting to keep the money coming in to the schools, while turning a blind eye to the zoning violation(s) such signs create.

What commissioners have been shying away from is the local political fallout from enforcement of zoning laws that prohibit what has become a visual blight for some, and unfair commercial competition for others – the large and growing number of such signs facing the street, rather than facing inwardly, i.e., on athletic field fences.

“I understand certain people don’t like the signs, and that the signs need to have some size standards,” said Commissioner

Burt Aaronson recently “but to take money away form schools I think is the wrong way to go.”

He pointed to the $175,000 received by Boca Raton High School, and $75,000 received annually by Spanish River High School, among many others.

“They could just write a check to the school board,” offered Commissioner. Mary McCarty, “but they want the advertising -- that’s what this is about.”

And in researching the question, the county attorney concluded that allowing for a school sign program that conflicts with local sign codes can only be accomplished through state legislation – which would in turn preempt local choice – a move that Commissioner McCarty said was “unacceptable.” 

The Plan

Thus, commissioners directed staff to return with a proposal that would do the following:

·        Keep money flowing into the schools.

·        Retain local control over the question, rather than (and to avoid the local political fallout) ask the legislature to issue some Tallahassee edict.

·        And then figure out a way to locally craft a plan that doesn’t in turn find the county being accused of so-called “spot or exclusionary” zoning.

The solution reached after consultation among county staff, school board staff, and League of Cities staff, was to make the sign purveyors “business partners” – at least through June 30, 2011.

The proposal was given to Palm Beach County Legislative Affairs Director Todd Bonlarron who in turn told the Boca Raton News he was able to get it approved as an attachment to an education bill (SB 1906) that was signed by the governor, and went into effect July 1.  Language in the approved bill says:  

“School districts are encouraged to enter into partnerships with local businesses for purposes of mentorship opportunities, the development of employment options and additional funding sources, and other mutual benefits. As a pilot program through June 30, 2011, the Palm Beach County school district may recognize its business partners by publicly displaying such business partners' names on school district property in the unincorporated areas. "Project

Graduation" and athletic sponsorships are examples of appropriate

recognition. The district shall make every effort to display its business partners' names in a manner that is consistent with the county standards for uniformity in size, color, and placement of signs. If the provisions of this section are inconsistent with the county ordinances or regulations relating to signs in the unincorporated areas or inconsistent with chapter 125, chapter 166, or chapter 479, Florida Statutes, the provisions of this section prevail.”

In the meantime, Omni Middle school officials and parents wait to see if county commission action is a ‘sign’ of the times.