A heaping helping of news & reviews from DFW’s dining scene.
FORT WORTH -- A 2-year-old ordinance that limits the size of window signs has become a pain for an iconic burger joint.
The rules say signs can't cover more than 10 percent of a business's windowpanes. They were intended to set regulations on the bright bubble-lettered signs that pop up at convenience stores and fast-food joints.
As it turns out, they also applied to the sign on the window of the original Kincaid's Hamburgers, which has operated on Camp Bowie Boulevard since 1946.
"That particular one, I had hand-painted on the window 19 years ago next month," owner Ron Gentry said.
The city adopted the ordinance two years ago to get rid of the "visual clutter" that City Council members said was a problem in some commercial areas. It put regulations on banner signs and portable signs and eliminated the "bandit signs" that advertisers used to sprinkle along road medians every weekend.
The ordinance wasn't widely enforced until November, when city sign inspectors started visiting businesses in commercial corridors like Lancaster Avenue and Beach Street.
Last week, the inspectors started telling business owners on Camp Bowie Boulevard that their signs violate the ordinance.
Gentry said he got a written notice telling him to remove the sign in five days or face a fine of up to $500 a day.
No one is facing a fine yet, and business owners can ask for a variance from the rules if they pay a fee and ask for a hearing from the Board of Adjustment, city Planning and Development Director Susan Alanis said.
"Kincaid's is probably a really good example of that; it's been that way for a really long time," she said.
Council members said during a work session Tuesday that they want to revise the sign rules to avoid hassling Kincaid's and other businesses. They disagreed, though, on how far to go in rewriting the ordinance. The sign ordinance was written after a series of meetings by a residents task force, and separate rules govern signs downtown.
"It's darn impossible to tell what some of the rules are," Councilman W.B. "Zim" Zimmerman said.
Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks said the ordinance has helped clean up her district.
"Other than one or two owners who complained about it on East Lancaster, the residents are very pleased with it," she said.
Councilman Carter Burdette said there isn't as much of a problem in west Fort Worth.
"Camp Bowie has had signs there for going on 100 years now. The character of Camp Bowie has not changed much, and those signs have not changed much," he said.
Gentry said he supports regulating trailer signs, but he said a lot of business owners rely on signs to attract customers.
"We're all having to compete with the big chains," he said. "In this economy, we need support from the city."
MIKE LEE, 817-390-7539
