Verdun sign law backfires - frustrates shopowers and leads to ugliness

Much muttering in Verdun about the boroughs strict enforcement of a bylaw from 2001 that makes it nearly impossible to put up a sign outside a store without undermining your business plan. The small shopkeepers of the area - who happen to be largely visible minority immigrants - are forced to fill out a demand for the right to put up a sign outside their business.

If the store does not promise a sign that costs in the range of $5,000 or $10,000, the borough will refuse it without comment, simply citing a two page document in bureaucratese. An architecture committee, known technically as a CCU, which includes some professionals, some normal citizens and is chaired by an elected rep, supposed reviews these demands case by case, but in practice they simply refuse anything that doesn't cost a lot of money at the sign store.


As a result, Verdun has a lot of unhappy small store owners that simply cannot put up a sign of any sort. One small survey of a tiny stretch of Church Street between Verdun an Evelyn (where these photos were taken) show that of 13 commercial businesses, 7 had no sign whatsoever. Several others had old signs which are exempt from punishment because they were put up in another era. One Caribbean hair products store, attracted lovely fines from Verduns inspectors costing the owner $400. So she simply reversed her sign, making it a useless, unreadable eyesore (above).

The bylaw discourages shopowners from updating their signs because they know that any such attempt to upgrade will land them in Verdun sign bureaucracy hell. Only large chains seem able to navigate the signage restrictions, which suggests that Verdun wants only established chains to settle in the area, good luck with that. Most places are small mom and pop businesses that can neither pay for an expensive fine or unreasonable fines.
Some stores with perfectly nice signs, such as this one, would not be allowed to put up such a sign today, as the sign does not fit the required criteria, which are incomprehensible, vague and written in bureaucratese gobbledigoop. (I ll provide a copy to anybody upon demand). The Mayor of Verdun, Trudel, is generally too busy chairing the transportation committee to worry about any of this, meanwhile Tremblay team councillors Alain Tasse and Ginette Marotte have shown little sensitivity to the plight of the local shopkeepers.