Should the city of Lisbon fine the owner of Brian's Barbershop $150 a day for a sign that was installed 30 years before he bought the property? Let us know what you think.
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The sign that sits outside of Brian's Barbershop and Sun Shak in Lisbon may not look controversial, but sparks are flying.
"It's just unfair is my take on it," Barbershop owner Brian Davis said.
"There is to be no internally lit signs in the historic district," Lisbon Zoning Board Member Cheryl Mills said.
Zoning board members have now taken steps to cite Davis and take him to court. They say his sign has disobeyed the law since last year.
"Take the light bulbs out of the sign, put the arms back up and light them, he'd be legal," Lisbon Zoning Board Member Richard Henthorne said.
Zoning officials say the sign needs to be externally lit so it doesn't take away from the historic feel of the district, but Davis says the sign frame has been there for more than 30 years. "I didn't do anything to my sign but put light bulbs in. I didn't put any wires in. My light was built like that 30 years ago. It was intended that way, and I'm not doing anything different than what was originally intended," Davis said.
Zoning officials say they want this business to flourish but want it done following the rules. "If it weren't in the ordinance, we wouldn't enforce it. We couldn't enforce it, but it is in the ordinance, and I'm not necessarily in agreement with it, but it is the law and we've got to enforce the law," Henthorne said.
But Davis says the rules have been bent for other businesses. "They've given a variance, what I'm applying for, to two different banks in town. And I feel it's only fair. If you give it to the big banks, then you have to be willing to give it to the little guy, also," Davis said.
The board says Davis doesn't qualify for a variance. Davis plans on appealing.
