The sign at the former Stine Lumber Co. location on U.S. 61 South hasn’t received much care lately.

Messages on the “text” portion of the sign used to make me laugh.

My favorite read something like: Toilets $79.

The funny part about that to me was that if you needed a toilet, were you really going to be lured in by the amazing low price? Toilets, it would seem, would be one of those “must-have” items.

But since Stine relocated, the humorous messages about random building supplies at extra low prices went away.

The building sat idle for a while before a homegrown business, Bad Boy Buggies, moved into the building.

Bad Boy Buggies is a creation of locals who have turned the fledgling company into a multi-million dollar enterprise.

If you don’t know, they build what is essentially a souped-up, four-wheel drive electric golf cart, with all sorts of uses, the most prominent of which is to get hunters deeper into the woods without scaring away the game.

But the company that creates buggies that can power up hillsides and grind through mud hit an immovable object this week, the dysfunctional and unfair enforcement of Natchez planning rules.

Bad Boy Buggies sought permission to reuse the old Stine sign that had been there for years and years and years.

The planning commission voted to uphold the city planner’s denial of the request to reuse the sign.

Now the sign sits in limbo until the Natchez Board of Aldermen likely overrides the planning commission’s decision and settles the issue.

But the problem the city faces is bigger than the Bad Boy Buggies sign issue.

The city has failed — through the last several administrations — to enforce its own ordinances well.

The result is an almost constant head bumping on a number of rules.

Natchez needs a sign ordinance. Having one is the only way to prevent someone from putting up an extremely inappropriate sign. And we need that protection for the countless property owners who have invested millions and millions of dollars.

But a rule that fits well in the downtown historic district doesn’t necessarily fit a more modern, retail area such as the U.S. 61 north and south corridors.

If we’re going to follow the sign ordinance strictly, let’s do it. Let’s immediately act to tear down all of the billboards all over town, let’s start working a list of “out of compliance” signs that should be removed. Let’s act now and in a comprehensive way.

But if we’re not going to do that, then let’s quickly rethink the sign ordinance slightly. We don’t need to scrap it outright, but it does make sense to have fewer restrictions in the non-historic districts than in downtown.

Unfortunately, what we appear to have now is a law that’s getting a bad rap because it’s never been implemented and enforced correctly. Perhaps worse, Natchez is perpetuating the belief among many residents that the city isn’t “business friendly.” Certainly the Bad Boy Buggies folks might think that after the sign flap.

But before we throw the law under the bus and let the city become the Wild West again, we need to revise the law — intelligently.

Ultimately, Natchez needs an effective, common sense sign ordinance with good, consistent enforcement.

And the law needs to balance the needs of proper and efficient city planning and the needs of local businesses.

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.