INDIAN ROCKS BEACH – The banner signs may be down on Gulf Boulevard, but city officials want everyone to know the party will go on as scheduled.
The Florida Department of Transportation sent a letter to IRB officials advising them that signs, banners and decorations of all sorts may not be affixed to utility poles. The prominent banner at the intersection of Walsingham Road and Gulf Boulevard as well as all other banners along Gulf Boulevard declaring this year’s annual celebration of the Taste of Indian Rocks Beach came down that afternoon.
Event organizers worried that the banner’s sudden disappearance might suggest the event had been canceled quickly responded with a public appeal to remind everyone that the popular IRB Homeowner’s Association-sponsored event is still on as planned.
The Taste of IRB will be held Saturday, Nov. 7 in Chic-A-Si Park across from the post office.
Reached at his office, city Public Services Director Dean Scharmen said, “We have already applied for a variance to the FDOT ruling, but I don’t expect it will come in time for the banners to be replaced prior to this event.”
Scharmen added that the code was put in place as a public safety initiative in the event that storms might potentially damage the banners causing an interruption to utility services.
“We’re taking a very proactive response to the situation,” Scharmen said. “For now the banner at Walsingham has been relocated to private property owned by Menachem Roth at Fifth Avenue and Second Street.”
The FDOT ruling potentially will limit all future signage and decorative use of utility structures along Gulf Boulevard including seasonal decorations and public information announcements regarding festivals and holiday events.
“The city has no other structures along Gulf Boulevard where we can display these banners,” Scharmen said. “For now we have done all we can, we’ll just have to wait on the results of our variance request.”
