MOBILE REGISTER
Taken from the Editorial page
Size Matters On DI
"An Excerpt from Register Op-Ed"
Saturday, January 12, 2002

(ARCHIVES EDITOR'S NOTE: Following is an excerpt from Register's Op-Ed titled "On drugs, dress codes and whether size matters on DI")
Finally, there is the town of Dauphin Island's crackdown on the populace's flagrant disregard of an ordinance requiring that house numbers be five inches high. Not four inches. Not three inches, even though Dauphin Island's building inspector said he could "plainly" see three-inch letters from the street (the idea of the ordinance is to help locate the correct address in an emergency).

Well over half the households and businesses on Dauphin Island received $168 citations in the mail. Justifiably irate residents who descended on Town Hall then learned they didn't actually have to pay the fine if they got the right-size numbers.

Here's a common-sense approach to a valid public safety issue: If an inspector can't clearly see the number of a house or business from the street, send a polite letter inviting the occupant to come into compliance.

Too bad that common sense seems to be in short supply these days - not just on Dauphin Island but throughout the county.