The city ordinance not to allow signs on the rights of way on State Routes 89A and State Route 179 will stay in effect.

The Sedona City Council, in a special session Wednesday, July 21, voted unanimously to not change its policy, but it will allow signs for businesses on Airport Road while the Arizona Department of Transportation installs a signal at this location.

The sign issue came to the city’s attention after Sedona Farmers Market owner Katrin Themlitz said she needed the off-premise signs for the market to succeed.

The motion council made directed staff to not move forward with any exceptions to the city’s ban of off-premise signs and continue with its current code enforcement approach on illegal signs in the State Route 179 and State Route 89A rights of way.

The issue of being fair was discussed, mentioning one exception could not be given to one business if others were not being allowed to put up signs.

The ban includes garage sale and real estate signs.

City Manager Tim Ernster said the code must be applied with fairness and consistency, so there will no dispute on the policy.

City staff has received calls about illegal signs, and they decided to increase enforcement in regard to garage sale signs.

Community Development Director John O’Brien said the sign policy has been in place ever since the city incorporated in 1988.

City Attorney Mike Goimarac said one could only imagine what Sedona would look like if there was no policy and people were putting up off-premise signs all along the state routes.

Mayor Rob Adams, attending the meeting telephonically, asked if the code had ever been changed or amended and was told it had not. He wondered why enforcement had been so soft.

O’Brien said his small staff cannot be everywhere to enforce every code on the city’s books, but added it does what it can.

“It comes down to budget issues,” he said, and council may want to look at the budget to see if overtime could be allowed to better enforce this code.

O’Brien said the sign problem has been increasing, and he thinks businesses are struggling and doing anything they can to stay afloat in this economy.

“We do what we can with the staff we have,” he said, mentioning his department only has 1.5 staff members for code enforcement.

Councilwoman Barbara Litrell said it was never her thought the sign code was not being enforced.

After a 25-minute executive session, Litrell said making an exception for one organization could “open up a can of worms.”

Themlitz said the signs are vital, and she will not continue to run the market without them.

Councilman Dan McIlroy told her there are bigger implications council needs to consider, and Councilman Mark DiNunzio said it would be hard to justify giving an exception to the farmers market.

The issue is not whether council supports the market, and instead is about the law Themlitz has been ignoring, Adams said.

“I have a concern about that attitude,” he said. “We have gone out of our way [to help]. This exception sets a precedent. I just cannot support that.”

Councilman Dennis Rayner said he thinks themarket could succeed by word of mouth and added the prices there are pretty high, which could be another reason for the decline in business.

Themlitz said she does not set the prices, and added she is working on this issue.

Vice Mayor Cliff Hamilton said it appears there were multiple options where the market could be relocated, and while not ideal, they would offer more visibility.