St. Vincent de Paul asks Geneva council to restore longtime A-frame sign for charity sales

James Vargo, manager of the St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop at Fourth and South Street in Geneva, asked the City Council to consider an exception or grandfathering for a longstanding A‑frame sign the charity has used to advertise Sunday sales and other events.

Vargo described the thrift shop as a volunteer‑run operation serving people in need across the area, with about 45 local volunteers at the Geneva location and close to 85 across two sites. He said the Geneva store processed about $250,000 in taxable sales last year and that the organization redistributed roughly $125,000 back to volunteers through a mutual fund. "For 11 years we've been dragging our sign and every year we reapply... I'm just asking your consideration if there's some way that maybe you can grandfather us in or make some kind of exception for us as a nonprofit charity and let us bring that sign back out again," Vargo told the council.

Why it matters: Vargo said the A‑frame sign materially increases visibility for a nonprofit dependent on low‑cost advertising and volunteers; he said the sign sits at the corner of Third and South where the organization has placed it historically. He also described social‑service activity — furnishing homes, distributing clothing (he estimated clothing to about 61 families last year, roughly 180 people), and coordinating with a network of local nonprofits to meet emergency needs.

Council response: members said they would look into the request. Staff and council did not make an immediate change to the sign rules during the meeting; Vargo was told the council would review the matter further.

The council heard other public comments and announcements during the public‑comment period but did not take a regulatory vote on the A‑frame issue at this meeting.