Vehicle Billboard Rules Weighed In Fenwick Island

FENWICK ISLAND – The Town Council is debating whether to craft a new law restricting advertising on commercial vehicles intended to be used as a billboard on Route 1.

Councilman Bill Weistling revisited the subject of regulating advertising on commercial vehicles during last Friday’s Town Council meeting. The subject was initially brought up by the Parking Committee who forwarded the issue to the Charter and Ordinance Committee for feedback.

“Primarily it is the advertising on commercial vehicles that are used solely for advertising purposes. Not intended to prohibit any of the other commercial vehicles that are used on a regular basis in town,” Weistling said, who serves on the Charter and Ordinance Committee. “The majority of the Charter and Ordinance members favored this … concerns include, how to identify these vehicles that are used specifically for advertising. Of course, there are a few that are obvious but still we want to be careful of prohibiting other businesses owners who use their vehicles. Also, look at other alternatives, such as banning market trucks or unhitched trailers rather than trying to target cars, vans, etc.”

Police Chief William Boyden explained the department’s challenge would be enforcement.

“If they have a vehicle parked, and once they know there is an ordinance they are going to start moving the vehicle around. I don’t want to make the ordinance against one or two businesses,” Boyden said. “Once we get an ordinance that is workable and we get it passed … the police department can go to those businesses that use vehicles as billboards and educate them. You will probably see 99.9 percent of the problem disappear.”

Boyden furthered Delaware law limits law enforcement when it comes to infringing on private property.

“There are very few areas of the law that we can enforce on private property,” he said.

Councilwoman Diane Tingle questioned how an ordinance would differentiate the businesses that use their commercial vehicles but may sit over a weekend from those who use their vehicles for advertising purposes only and sit for long periods of time.

“I think we need to be real careful writing this or we are going to have trouble,” Tingle said. “If are all worried about the one lot that we are all worried about, why can’t we have an ordinance that specifies you can’t have an vehicle sitting on an empty lot that advertises?”

The council went back and forth over potential restrictions to include in an ordinance, such as sizes of advertising on vehicles, but felt that staff needed to conduct further research in how the state and neighboring municipalities handle the issue.

“I would like to see us move forward with this. I would rather beat it to death than say it will not work,” said Councilman Roy Williams, gaining support from Council members Gene Langan and Gardner Bunting.

Fenwick Island business owner and resident Tim Collins voiced his opinion on the matter before the council.

“This is a serious issue that can escalate into something much bigger. I have seen something in the last year or two that I am becoming more and more concerned about as far as these vehicles being out next to the highway, the size of them and the advertising,” Collins said. “You definitely have a situation where someone is pointing to someone saying ‘well they’re doing it why can’t I do it’ … they are using someone else as an example and that is a difficult position because it becomes a question of who is legitimate.”

Collins suggested the council pass an ordinance that requires commercial vehicles to park adjacent to Coastal Highway.

“If it is going to be parked on a commercial piece of property for a good deal of time, or any amount of time, then I think the direction the town should go in is get something on the books where that vehicle has to be parked at the end of the shopping center, on the side, or around back … the point is you have got to get them out of the commercial lots because it has become an eye sore to me as a business person and as a resident,” he said.

Boyden confirmed he will research the issue and return to the council for further discussion.

Although the businesses of concern were not specified during discussion, council members were directly referring to the Ropewalk restaurant. A Ropewalk vehicle is routinely parked in a vacant lot used to direct restaurant patron to additional parking, and it has been brought up throughout the past before the council.

Last July, at the conclusion of a council meeting members of the public continued to voice concerns over Ropewalk’s parking situation, starting with signage that had been posted at the lot on Dagsboro Street deeming the parking for Ropewalk.

At first Ropewalk posted a large sign at the lot on Dagsboro Street, “Ropewalk Parking” that had to be removed. Next it posted smaller metal signs, “No Beach Parking, Ropewalk Parking Only” and those had to be removed as well due to Fenwick code.

At that time, Ropewalk considered constructing a Ropewalk T-shirt shop at the lot on Dagsboro Street where merchandise could be sold and parking signage would be allowed.

In the meantime, the code allows for signage to permanently be posted on a vehicle to deem the lot as Ropewalk parking but some neighbors have found a problem with that as well.