The other day I typed in the word “Natchez” on the popular auction Web site eBay just to see what interesting Natchez related items people were selling.

The first item to pop up on the list that day was a vintage postcard from Natchez’s past.

No, it wasn’t a postcard featuring an antebellum home or the Mississippi River.

In bright, vivid colors, the card featured pictures of the old Prentiss Motel on U.S. 61 South. With big bold letters surrounded by bright blocks of color, topped with a sunburst of neon, the sign welcomed weary travelers looking for a place to spend the night.

Classic motel signs from that era were not done on the cheap, nor were they done without attention to detail. They were well-designed billboards that helped define a generation of uniquely American architecture.

Try to build one of the icons of the road today, and the city planning office will crush your exuberance.

The current Natchez sign ordinance does not allow it. Not only would the sign exceed the ordinance’s size limitations, but the current rules prohibit the use of moving and flashing lights. The flashing neon top would have to go.

Yet there are many signs that line Natchez’s commercial corridors that are ugly. These signs are usually cheap, poorly lettered messages, painted on plywood that quickly rots. They are lit with utility spotlights available at hardware stores. These signs are cheap and unattractive — yet they meet the city’s sign ordinance.

Even worse are the old signs that are left vacant and rusting. Some owners complain that it would cost thousands of dollars to bring their signs into compliance with the ordinance. In frustration, they leave these old rusting metal skeletons sticking out of the ground.

Bad Boy Buggies CEO Jody Foster recently met with the Natchez Planning Commission to ask for permission to re-use the old Stine Lumber Company sign on U.S. 61 South for his business.

Planning commissioners refused to compromise with Foster and allow him to use the existing sign, which exceeded size limitations by 72 square feet.

From all indications, the new sign would be an improvement over the existing structure, which, unused, currently leaves the area looking blighted and run down.

Foster wanted to play by the rules and wanted to work with the city. The commission denied his request.

A rusted vacant sign still stands instead of a newly refurbished sign.

Making the situation worse, old, out-of-compliance signs mandated to be taken down by 2004 still stand.

So now the city is left with ugly signs, empty sign frames and city leaders who will not enforce the law.

The current situation is a typical example of how leaders rely too much on legislation to do what only education can accomplish.

If the city wants to change the way its gateways look to residents and visitors alike, then it will take a serious campaign to show business owners why the issue is important and that it can be addressed economically. It will take hard work.

The current sign ordinance presupposes that all signs are best left small and unobtrusive.

Good signs, like the old Prentiss Motel sign, offer energy and vitality to the street — no matter their size and shape. They add to the character of the city and can even become cherished landmarks.

Bad signs — even small ones — create an impression that businesses do not care about the city.

Legislation cannot guarantee that good signs are built. But education can go a long way to demonstrating why good signs are necessary. That is the job of city leaders — a job that has yet to be accomplished.

Ben Hillyer is the Web editor of The Democrat he can be reached at 601-445-3550 or ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com