It’s been an interesting and an exciting year, but
interesting and exciting don’t necessarily mean good.

During the year, jobs have been lost and retirement funds
have dwindled, nationally and locally. Nationally, the federal government has
committed trillions of dollars to corporate bailouts in both the financial and
automotive industries, actions that will slow rather than quicken economic recovery
– all at the expense of the taxpayer.

Locally, 2009 saw the demise of the Chadds Ford Post but the
launch of ChaddsFordlive.com. Many still mourn the loss of the first while the
second continues to grow.

There have been other additions to the local business
community, such as Sophisticated Ladies and Sinful Snacks, as mentioned in a
previous editorial. That entrepreneurial spirit bodes well. Yet, there have
been other reactions as well.

Kevin Cattie, who opened the Cattie Shack in January sold
the convenience store and market in early fall and another business in Chadds
Ford village – a long time business, one that doesn’t want to be named yet – is
thinking about leaving the township for a municipality that is friendlier
toward businesses.

Much of the trouble centers around the township’s sign
ordinance, an ordinance that business owners see as restrictive, especially in
bad economic times and more so for new businesses just starting up.

Members of the Chadds Ford Business Association addressed
the issue with Chadds Ford Township supervisors earlier this year. They made a
proposal to allow for more temporary signage. Supervisors agreed to amend the
code on a trial basis– and with appropriate fees, of course.

While association members have not been as vocal as they
were earlier in the year, there is still a feeling of malaise within the
business community. Owners seem more somber than buoyed with a sense of
positivity.

We can’t say for certain that the sign laws are to blame, or
to what extent they are to blame. Yet, consider the Barn Shoppes. How many
stores used to be there? How many are open now, two? Even before the current
economic downturn, businesses were leaving because they couldn’t improve their
signage and visibility.

Chadds Ford isn’t the only township that’s a stickler for
business sign restrictions. Birmingham and Pennsbury are just as tight.

No one wants excessively loud or garish signage to be the
routine in small municipalities that are 90 to 95 percent residential, but a
healthy business climate is good for even bedroom communities. Businesses add
to the culture as well as the tax base.

As Chadds Ford Township Supervisors’ Chairman George Thorpe
said a few weeks ago, there’s nothing a township can do to combat a negative
national environment but, as he and the other township supervisors did earlier
this year, local authorities can–and should–listen to businesses.

We think the local business climate can be better, but local
businesses must take the lead to make that happen. Follow the CFBA example in
talking to supervisors, getting them to understand that signs pointing to
businesses that are open to customers is more of a “welcome to the community”
sign than one that says “Space for rent.”