In Defense of LED Signs

Virginia Beach has a tempest in a teapot issue with LED signs. It went to the front burner with a religious group seeking permission for one in Great Neck.

Let me say it; the issue has been entirely overblown so far. Virginia Beach currently doesn't have a LED sign problem. If a sign or two went unsightly, many residents would stop patronizing the business. As such, market forces would begin to correct the problem before government intervention is needed.

Some critics are quite open about their intent being to effectively strangle the signage class, as the City has previously tried doing with billboards. If we let government prohibit everything it simply doesn't like, we're going to get into much trouble very quickly.

I happened to attend a markup meeting of the post-BRAC development regulations for the Resort Area. Businessmen noted that Virginia Beach already has some of the most cumbersome regulations around, so we were potentially choking off new, sought-after private investment. That's symptomatic of a City government that wants to slap anything and everything with a myriad of regulations.

However, they'll continue to try. Think we can get them to start with the large LED sign at the Virginia Beach Convention Center? (Oops!)