Snohomish says signs are fine — elsewhere

Snohomish prohibits billboards within its city limits, but it doesn’t mind advertising on them for free.

The city settled a feud with a Seattle sign company when the company agreed to promote the city on billboards across Snohomish County.

The exception: The billboards can’t be near Snohomish.

One of the first billboards stands just north of 188th Street NE along Smokey Point Boulevard in Arlington. The sign reads: “Historic Snohomish. Dine, shop, play, stay.”

“It’s a good opportunity for us to get advertising space for downtown businesses,” city manager Larry Bauman said.

The sign is expected to appear on several billboards owned by Icon Groupe around Snoho­mish County on a rotating basis. The city will get the exposure for at least a month this year, said Frank Podany, the company’s managing director. The company plans to do the same for the next seven or eight years. A sign on a billboard costs about $5,000 per month on average.

“At the end of day, it’s good for the city because they are benefiting,” Podany said.

The dispute between the city and Icon Groupe occurred in late 2006 when the company proposed to build a 480-square-foot billboard just across the Snohomish River and just south of the city limits.

Some city officials, including Mayor Randy Hamlin, were upset. Snohomish County issued a permit for the sign after mistakenly sending an environmental review for the project to the city of Mill Creek, not Snoho­mish. Snohomish has banned billboards mainly for aesthetic reasons.

The sign was proposed to go up in the city’s urban growth area. That means the area is now in the county’s jurisdiction and could be annexed into the city in the future.

When the county sent a notice, the city wrote back saying that the billboard “could result in significant adverse impacts upon the historic and cultural resources of the historic district.”

The city didn’t hear back from the county. Upset with the process, city officials met with the sign company and discussed what to do.

Podany said the company decided to help the city promote itself rather than spending money in a legal dispute. The company built the billboard outside Snohomish later.

“We felt this was a compromise. It will be in our interest to do something with the city,” Podany said, adding that the company started giving the city free advertisements on its billboards last year.

The city understands it had no jurisdiction over the billboard outside its current boundaries, Hamlin said.

“On the other hand, I was very appreciative of the company being willing to cooperate and listening to our concerns,” he said.

City Councilman R.C. “Swede” Johnson said he doesn’t have a problem with the Icon Groupe’s billboard across the river.

The sign faces south. Its current ad shows a man holding big salmon to promote a fishing guide business.

“It doesn’t bother me,” said Kathy Petersen, who owns Painted Sky Decor and Clothing in the downtown. “I see it, but it’s not facing me.”

The billboard is too big, said Lauri Goebel, 51. She is a member of American Legion Post 96 across the street from Petersen’s business.

“It doesn’t fit the character of the town,” Goebel said. “It’s distracting.”

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.