Edwardsville Denies Drunken Fish Sign Variances

EDWARDSVILLE - A sign resembling giant metal chopsticks on the south side of the new Drunken Fish restaurant in Edwardsville will either have to change or come down following the City Council’s unanimous denial of multiple requested sign variances.

According to city officials and documentation from Tuesday’s meeting packet, Highland based graphic design company Aggressive designed and allegedly installed the sign without the city’s permission.

Members of the city’s Administrative and Community Services (ACS) Committee voted unanimously to deny a series of variances that would’ve allowed the sign to remain standing - or in this case, projecting from the wall. The sign violates multiple parts of the city’s signage code by reaching more than three feet above the building’s roof and extending closer than eight feet to the ground.

“This is a hard one - I’m just going to come out and say that,” ACS Committee Chair Elizabeth Grant said, noting the committee voted all three variances down before they came to City Council. “Not because we don’t like the sign. This is Drunken Fish, and we want to welcome new business owners to town … I think where this stuck is in some of how it was handled communication-wise. They were told not to proceed with this and went ahead.”

Alderman Jack Burns added that while he thought it was a nice sign, which several council members agreed with, this is a matter of keeping in line with the city’s established precedent, as it has denied code-violating signs for other businesses in the past.

“The fault lies a lot with the sign company,” Burns said. “The communication fell through.”

The City Council then unanimously voted to deny all three variances for the sign. If Drunken Fish or Aggressive do not take the sign down or make it code compliant, they could face daily fines of up to $750.

A full recording of the meeting on Tuesday can be watched at the top of this story or on the City of Edwardsville Facebook page.

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