Bristol Virginia committee discusses signs to help interstate travelers find restaurants and motels

City leaders moved a step closer Tuesday to allowing "way-finding" signs for some businesses.

A committee of the city's Planning Commission agreed to review a Wytheville town policy that allows the signs to help direct interstate travelers.

If approved, the city could place the signs near Interstate 81's Exits 1, 5 and 7.

"The purpose is to try to keep them [travelers] from getting lost, not put them in the front door," committee member R.L. Light said.

The Wytheville policy only applies to restaurants. Committee members, however, agreed to also consider hotels and motels because they are regular destinations for interstate travelers.

The city would charge businesses to have their logos on the signs.

In the case of Exit 7, the biggest challenge might be finding an appropriate place for the sign outside the state rights of way.

After an extended discussion, Economic Development Director Jerry Brown said he will confer with Virginia Department of Transportation officials about what might be permissible. "We're 'ramp-dependant' at Exit 7," Brown said.

Because VDOT won't allow the signs along the interstate exit ramps, the city will be hard-pressed to find a visible location near the ramps.

The city already has a sign at the intersection of Linden Drive and Old Airport Road, directing motorists to many Linden businesses.

"I'm not as concerned about Linden Drive as I am The Village [a nearby hilltop development], anything along [Lee Highway] not visible from the interstate and Exit 5, if anything develops there," City Manager Bill Dennison said.

Committee members also discussed ways to improve the visibility of Stagecoach Road, which provides access to a Cracker Barrel restaurant at The Village.

"That's always been a problem with the Cracker Barrel and when Bob Evans [restaurant] was there," Mayor Jim Rector said.

In other matters, Rector agreed to start a dialogue with Washington County, Va., leaders about sign issues. The county currently has no restrictions on the height or location of commercial signs like those at the new Highlands retail center near the city limits.

"Are we going to have a problem competing with Washington County? They don't have an ordinance," Rector asked Brown.

"That's very likely to happen, especially at the original [Mack] Trammell site," Brown said of the originally proposed site for The Highlands retail center. "The frontage is in the city, so if anything goes there, the signs are going to be in the city and the businesses in the county."

The committee is scheduled to meet again Sept. 5.