Blinded by the light

Verizon Wireless asked to dim sign after several motorists complain

COEUR d'ALENE - Dim dem bulbs.

The 53,000 bulbs in the new electronic sign at the Verizon Wireless store off U.S. 95 need to be turned down a touch so motorists aren't distracted by its show.

That's what the city's code enforcement department told the week-old store Wednesday after receiving a couple of complaints about the spectacle of the flashing board.

"This sometimes happens with the electronic signs," said Kathy Lewis, the city's sign board liaison.

The complaints were that the board was especially distracting in the early morning and dusk hours, when natural light isn't at full power.

One mother at a local school said she didn't realize if the traffic light she just went through was red or green, so distracted was she, according to complainant Matthew Hall.

"This giant sign should be referred to as an outdoor TV," he wrote about the sign board.

There isn't a set standard so the city makes judgment calls when it comes to how bright signs can be.

This was one of them, Lewis said.

A-OK, said store owner Chris Cheeley.

"We'll have it dimmed today," he said after receiving word of the complaints Wednesday.

The 10-by-17-foot corner sign flashes its deals at the corner of U.S. 95 and Hanley Avenue. It has been turned on since Saturday, while the new 3,600-square-foot store, which used to sit a couple blocks away off Canfield Avenue, opened Monday.

Big as it may be, the sign's size is in compliance with city code, which allows a store up to three times its lineal street frontage for signs, Lewis said.

They can use those allotments in a number of smaller signs or fewer bigger ones, she said.

Cheeley said he and his employees like the sign's pizzazz.

The board meets the second Monday of the month, but doesn't have a February meeting set.