Carissa Patton by all accounts is a good cook.
She is also trying to help support her family which is why she opened Weber’s BBQ last year in the heart of the Manteca Industrial Park at Wetmore Street and Mellon Avenue.
As a true mom and pop operation, she couldn’t afford the rent that some spaces on Main Street are still commanding - $2,000 to $5,000 a month - even in a weak economy.
The restaurant’s location is just under a quarter of a mile off South Main Street past the existing dog shelter, city corporation yard, and a cement supplier, and just before you get to the Carl’s Jr. distribution center.
To guide people to her business she has even had a human billboard at various spots along South Main Street. She also placed a sign on property that has since been purchased by the city for the new animal shelter that breaks ground Tuesday on the northeast corner of Wetmore and Main streets.
The city just recently bought the other corner of the intersection as well.
Patton has been informed her off-site sign is illegal. She hopes to get a waiver to the municipal sign rule when the City Council meets on Tuesday.
Seems like a straightforward situation, right? Not by a long shot.
The city through the Manteca Redevelopment Agency is getting ready to spend in excess of $30,000 on wayfaring signs to direct visitors to “attractions.”
One of those “attractions” happens to be the 900-pound gorilla of outdoor retailing known as Bass Pro Shops. It certainly is easier to find Bass Pro Shops than it is Weber’s BBQ yet the city is going to spend RDA tax dollars to help Bass Pro’s bottom line.
Yes, the city does benefit from Bass Pro succeeding in terms of sales tax, jobs, and residual economic impacts. But that is also the case with Weber’s and hundreds of other small firms.
Bass Pro is an attraction, you might say. OK, so what constitutes an attraction? It isn’t unusual for people who stay in hotel rooms to want to pick up some personal items. In many cases they may want to know where Wal-Mart is. You could argue Wal-Mart - or CVS and Walgreen’s for that matter - are places that visitors would be interested in locating if they stay in Manteca.
Let’s concede that Bass Pro Shops is really a legitimate attraction and Wal-Mart is not since not very many people are going to drive 100 miles specifically to shop at the Manteca Wal-Mart and take pictures of the interior.
That leaves the council with a major problem. There are tons of illegal signs in Manteca that violate the prohibition against off-site placement although it should be noted the ordinance for whatever reason allows specific exceptions for new homes as well as real estate agents’ open house signs.
But, you say, Patton’s sign is on city property. Bingo.
There are tons of signs - as well as human signs - adorning city property known as public sidewalks.
Those “illegal signs” provide part-time jobs for at least 20 - if not more - people in a city plagued by a 15 percent unemployment rate. There are many more illegal banner flag signs, A-frames and good-old-fashioned signs attached to a stake and pounded into the ground placed illegally on city right-of-way.
Why not simply go through town and remove all such signs in city right-of-way and toss them into the back of a dump truck and haul them off to the Lovelace Transfer Station?
The reason is simple. You’d have a major mutiny and irate folks jamming the council chambers.
So the city is using the time-honored Manteca tradition of culling the herd, so to speak. Instead of addressing the entire issue and determining whether there is a way to make it work or to force everyone to comply, the city is picking off businesses - the weaker the better - one at a time to make their point.
In case anyone is wondering at 1001 W. Center St., that isn’t a sign of being business friendly.
She is also trying to help support her family which is why she opened Weber’s BBQ last year in the heart of the Manteca Industrial Park at Wetmore Street and Mellon Avenue.
As a true mom and pop operation, she couldn’t afford the rent that some spaces on Main Street are still commanding - $2,000 to $5,000 a month - even in a weak economy.
The restaurant’s location is just under a quarter of a mile off South Main Street past the existing dog shelter, city corporation yard, and a cement supplier, and just before you get to the Carl’s Jr. distribution center.
To guide people to her business she has even had a human billboard at various spots along South Main Street. She also placed a sign on property that has since been purchased by the city for the new animal shelter that breaks ground Tuesday on the northeast corner of Wetmore and Main streets.
The city just recently bought the other corner of the intersection as well.
Patton has been informed her off-site sign is illegal. She hopes to get a waiver to the municipal sign rule when the City Council meets on Tuesday.
Seems like a straightforward situation, right? Not by a long shot.
The city through the Manteca Redevelopment Agency is getting ready to spend in excess of $30,000 on wayfaring signs to direct visitors to “attractions.”
One of those “attractions” happens to be the 900-pound gorilla of outdoor retailing known as Bass Pro Shops. It certainly is easier to find Bass Pro Shops than it is Weber’s BBQ yet the city is going to spend RDA tax dollars to help Bass Pro’s bottom line.
Yes, the city does benefit from Bass Pro succeeding in terms of sales tax, jobs, and residual economic impacts. But that is also the case with Weber’s and hundreds of other small firms.
Bass Pro is an attraction, you might say. OK, so what constitutes an attraction? It isn’t unusual for people who stay in hotel rooms to want to pick up some personal items. In many cases they may want to know where Wal-Mart is. You could argue Wal-Mart - or CVS and Walgreen’s for that matter - are places that visitors would be interested in locating if they stay in Manteca.
Let’s concede that Bass Pro Shops is really a legitimate attraction and Wal-Mart is not since not very many people are going to drive 100 miles specifically to shop at the Manteca Wal-Mart and take pictures of the interior.
That leaves the council with a major problem. There are tons of illegal signs in Manteca that violate the prohibition against off-site placement although it should be noted the ordinance for whatever reason allows specific exceptions for new homes as well as real estate agents’ open house signs.
But, you say, Patton’s sign is on city property. Bingo.
There are tons of signs - as well as human signs - adorning city property known as public sidewalks.
Those “illegal signs” provide part-time jobs for at least 20 - if not more - people in a city plagued by a 15 percent unemployment rate. There are many more illegal banner flag signs, A-frames and good-old-fashioned signs attached to a stake and pounded into the ground placed illegally on city right-of-way.
Why not simply go through town and remove all such signs in city right-of-way and toss them into the back of a dump truck and haul them off to the Lovelace Transfer Station?
The reason is simple. You’d have a major mutiny and irate folks jamming the council chambers.
So the city is using the time-honored Manteca tradition of culling the herd, so to speak. Instead of addressing the entire issue and determining whether there is a way to make it work or to force everyone to comply, the city is picking off businesses - the weaker the better - one at a time to make their point.
In case anyone is wondering at 1001 W. Center St., that isn’t a sign of being business friendly.
