Sign Company’s Fire-Inspection Fiasco

IF YOU’VE BEEN READING my columns, you know I tell real-life, in-the-moment stories. Actual events happening in real time with us. It’s because I want you to feel something. I want you to enjoy our great tales and victories, and commiserate with us on our failures or random business events that aren’t the best scenarios. Owning-running a sign company is some kind of “special experience.” I’m sure all businesses are tough, but dammit y’all! Us sign dawgs go through it! Challenges on all fronts. This industry is not for the queasy. So, sit back and enjoy the tale of our latest stumbling block…

Rick and I bought our beautiful 30,000-sq.-ft., fully air-conditioned building, sitting on 2.5 pristine acres, with a 90-car parking lot, six years ago. Wrapping 100 vehicles a month, the parking lot is paramount. It’s always full.

During our purchase and remodel, we applied for all the necessary Sanford (FL) City permits. To do some renos, to put in the spray booth, to install our monument sign, etc. Like good boys. And our fire inspector loved us, so every yearly inspection, we passed with flying colors. Five years running. But then he retired. And the City sent this new young buck in his place. On his very first visit he riddled us with 16 violations! From loose extension cords, to why didn’t you pull a permit for this 18 x 28-ft. wrap tent? Oh, and you ran electric to this Laguna plasma table without a permit, and so on. Blew us up!

Ten issues were minor and addressed swiftly. But he was focused on that wrap tent. This vinyl-covered, steel-frame tent bolted to our shop floor is completely covered under our full-building fire sprinkler system, but he wanted $7K of additional sprinkler heads installed inside the tent. Our contractor pulled the permit, installed the sprinklers. But the City refused to finalize his permit, because the tent itself wasn’t permitted. And since the vinyl cover didn’t have the correct flame-spread rating, they told us we had to dismantle it.

Yep. Made us install sprinklers, approved the sprinkler permit, but now we have an unpermitted tent we must demolish. The hell with that. I ain’t doing it. For $4K I can buy the fire-rated cover and save our tent. We’ll pull a permit for the plasma table, etc…

We hired one of our GC friends to help us. After engineering and permit submission, they told us we need what’s called a “conditional use permit” for wrapping cars. What? We spray 40 gallons of Matthews urethane into the atmosphere every month, and they’re worried about wraps? Yes, because a facility wrapping cars is classified as an “auto mechanic shop.” (WTH…)

But wait, it gets better! Six years ago, we applied for this exact thing, and the City told us we did not need it. But now they have a “new lawyer,” and everyone must comply before they will even consider our other permit issues.

Before we could apply, they made us send letters to all neighbors within a 500-ft. radius of our property. Stating a date and time from 10 a.m. to noon, we would have an open house (with light refreshments) for all to attend, to confirm no one had a problem with us wrapping cars (for the past 6 years…)

Can’t make this stuff up. Wednesday this week, Jamie laid out a $200 charcuterie display, and we eagerly anticipated our guests.

Not a damn person showed up. Not even Fire Marshall Bill! No one. What a waste of resources and time for all involved. But since no one objected, I guess we’ll get our permit to wrap cars, lol… and then we can begin the fight to keep our wrap tent.

I’ll keep you updated…