A Main Street property owner is working to change Grand Coulee’s mind toward letting him advertise with signs on his lot, a practice the city says goes against code but which is gaining supporters online. 

Sam Hsieh, who owns Coulee Plaza on Main Street, was told by the city following a complaint that signs advertising businesses on his property are against City Code Chapter 17.60. That code states that only one freestanding sign is allowed for single-occupancy buildings, as well as for multiple offices or businesses within a structure or planned commercial/industrial park.

Hsieh had asked the city council in a letter to consider whether the code really applies to his situation since his lot has neither a building nor multiple offices or businesses, but the council voted 3-1 last month that he would still need to take the signs down.

That prompted Hsieh to start an online petition. He wrote on the website for the petition that an attorney told him the city ordinances don’t apply to his “empty lot.” 

He also said that the billboards had been up long before he bought the property last year and that he wasn’t told of any code issues, so he “didn’t really think twice” about it being an issue.

The petition, which so far has 585 signatures supporting his cause, can be found at https://www.change.org/p/city-council-community-support?redirect=false .

“I was shocked to see how much support I have received from the community,” Hsieh said in an email to The Star on Monday. “I was in tears. … The signatures received symbolizes that people want change and want to improve the community. It also shows that the community wants to help and wants to be involved. The city just needs to listen.”

Hsieh has used the property, and wants to continue to do so, for public events.

So far, the space has been used for hosting events ranging from Cars & Coffee to Koulee Kids Fest activities, and  he hopes to host live music, wine tastings, and more in the future.

Losing funding from the signs, about $350 a month, would make maintaining the property unsustainable, Hsieh said, emphasizing that he doesn’t make additional money from the advertising, with the revenue covering mortgage, utilities, and maintenance fees for the lot.

A sign for Coulee Community Hospital, where Hsieh works as a doctor, is free to the hospital.

A key point Hsieh makes is that he wants to use the property to help the community. 

“I don’t think anyone wants to commercialize the town and make it lose its ethnicity but we can do better,” he said. “We can make our town unique and eclectic to accommodate our 1.4 [million] visitors.”

Hsieh also cited the potential for an additional 1,500 workers on a proposed  hydroelectric project as reason to build up the community. 

“We need to learn to adapt and accommodate to changes because I foresee potentially lots of change happening either by need or necessity with the project. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn this town around. How do we embrace it? We really shouldn’t let this opportunity drive by and miss it.”

The next step, Hseih said, is to ask the city to amend the ordinance. 

“I just want to work respectfully with the city to resolve this,” he said.

“The catch-22 here is they’re good looking signs,” Mayor Paul Townsend said on the phone Tuesday. “I don’t see a visual negativity to them.

Townsend said that changing the ordinance is possible but is ultimately the council’s decision, not his.

“The thing is, we don’t want to do a case-by-case basis,” he said. “That’s gotten us into trouble before. [The code] has to be unilateral for everybody. In the same avenue, we have to be careful that it’s not abused.”

“How do we keep it tasteful and in check?” Townsend continued. “What can we do to keep the opportunity and yet keep some reasonable ideas in place? I hate government control, but we don’t want every building to be a giant billboard. … We need to find a way to work with this.”

Townsend said that they wouldn’t make Hsieh take his signs down anytime soon because of the current obligations with the advertisers, and that he’d like to assign the situation to a committee from the council and have them try to find a solution.

Many comments on The Star’s Facebook page responding to a post of last week’s article on the topic, and comments on the petition website, show support for Hsieh’s cause.

“The town shouldn’t be telling people what they may or may not post on their private property,” Courtney A Turk wrote on Facebook. “It is not a Home Owners Association.”

“The signs do nothing to detract from the community and should be allowed to stay up,” wrote Windy Winsenberg-Bolger on Facebook. 

“Change the code, with caution!” wrote Diane Kelly Babler. “This corner is a bright spot in Grand Coulee — it needs to stay.”

On the petition website, Cheryl Ethrington wrote that “people should be rewarded for trying to make our community a better place, not punished. The billboards themselves are a benefit to the community and in my opinion are not an eyesore. They are all tastefully and professionally done and advertise our valuable local businesses. If they help fund a public space for community gatherings, then that is a bonus. I hope the city council can see that they are not serving our community by requiring these advertisements to be removed.”

“We should embrace positive change,” Ben Hughes wrote. “Adjust for the betterment of the community. The fact that this is an actual situation happening in this city is embarrassing.”

“This corner looks really nice and I don’t see a problem with anything,” Kerri Lauseng wrote. “Anytime someone makes a spot in Coulee look better than being an eyesore is welcome in my book. I don’t see a darn thing wrong with it....let it be!” 

“This is a great idea and needs to be supported,” Jesse Utz said. “I support it 100 percent and so should every one else.I look forward to the free concerts that I would love to put on right here in the middle of the Coulee.” 

“The city council is the ONLY body that can provide a remedy!” Steven Philips said on the petition site. “Do your job city council and help our community instead of paralyzing it!”

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Hsieh’s petition can be found at https://www.change.org/p/city-council-community-support?redirect=false 

https://www.grandcoulee.com/story/2020/10/28/news/council-property-owner-must-remove-signs/13555.html