Storyline · 1985–1989
In 1985 Chapel Hill tightened its sign rules, limiting new signs to 8 feet and banning pole signs, and by 1987 the owners of about 230 nonconforming signs had been given three years to comply. As the grace period ended in 1989, downtown merchants and the copy shop Copytron pressed the town to allow neon, and merchants brought a petition with more than 1,600 signatures. On June 12, 1989 the Town Council voted 6 to 2 to lift the neon ban.
An ordinance Chapel Hill adopted in 1985 set stricter design rules for signs, limiting new signs to 8 feet and banning pole signs. On January 21, 1986 the Town Council sent a plan to remove nonconforming signs back to the planning board. By March 1987 building and sign inspector Darrell Wall had notified the owners of about 230 signs that broke the ordinance's rules, giving each three years to comply before fines of $25 a day. Fowler's Food Store, Sutton's Drug Store and Hardee's on Franklin Street were among those warned; town planner Arthur Jackson said the aim was smaller, informational signs.
As the grace period neared its end in January 1989, the owner of Pepper's Pizza and 16 other downtown merchants sent the council a recommendation to revise the rule barring neon on storefronts. Appearance Commission chair Cassandra Sloop said a revision could allow neon signs of certain sizes. On January 24 a lawsuit by the copy shop Copytron seeking to amend the neon ban was placed on the inactive file while the commission reviewed the rule; council member Julie Andresen said businesses had had three years to comply. The commission informally voted 8 to 0 to recommend allowing small neon signs in store windows, and on February 16 it voted 6 to 4 to recommend neon in the town center within size and brightness limits. At the council's public hearing on March 20 merchants presented a petition of more than 1,600 signatures asking that neon signs, which the Daily Tar Heel said had been banned since 1981 though still widely used, be allowed. On June 12, 1989 the council voted 6 to 2 to strike the word neon from the sign rules, so that neon signs were treated like any other sign. James Wallace and David Pasquini voted no, Wallace saying he opposed neon except as an inert gas, and Andresen said she would rely on the Appearance Commission to police the signs.
Every statement above comes from these dated entries in the chronology. Each links to its source.
No indexed work is about this storyline itself yet. These are the most widely held histories of the theme it is filed under, so they may not discuss it. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.
Thomas E. Ross's geographic study of American Indians in North Carolina. It examines Native peoples' history, cultural assimilation, and social and economic conditions across the state, with statistics. Published by Karo Hollow Press in 1999, eleven preliminary pages and 242 pages with illustrations and maps.
Deed transcripts for the town lots of Chapel Hill and adjoining land from 1790 to the 1930s, compiled by Stewart E. Dunaway. Each transcript keeps only the working facts: grantor and grantee, price, acreage and the metes and bounds of the parcel. Self-published in 2014 as Issue 1G, 702 pages with maps and facsimiles.
Stewart E. Dunaway worked through Hillsborough, N.C., lot by lot, giving each town lot a synopsis of its history, a plat showing where it sits and transcripts of the deeds he could locate for it. The second issue runs to 720 pages with illustrations, maps and facsimiles.
Stewart E. Dunaway's 2015 addendum to his history of Hillsborough's town lots, adding deed records arranged by lot number and further town history, with the expansion of the 1890s covered for the first time. Self-published in North Carolina as version 1.0, 446 pages with illustrations, facsimiles and maps. Topics include deeds, court records, land titles and real property in Hillsborough.
Stewart E. Dunaway's abstracts of civil suits over land heard in the Hillsborough District Superior Court between 1778 and 1806. The district covered Orange, Wake, Granville, Caswell, Person, Chatham and Randolph counties, and the papers concern boundaries, ownership and disputed tracts. Published through Lulu in 2011, 337 pages with illustrations, maps and facsimiles.
William M. Rohe's history of Research Triangle Park and the region around it, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2011. Topics include regional planning and the economic and social conditions of the Research Triangle Park region, one corner of which is Chapel Hill and the university. 298 pages with illustrations and maps.
Stewart E. Dunaway's two-volume edition of the Orange County land entry book, the register in which settlers first claimed vacant land from the state before a grant was surveyed and issued. Volume one covers the first thousand entries, all made in 1778; volume two runs from 1779 to 1795. Each entry is reproduced from the original in the State Archives with an abstract of its contents. Self-published through Lulu in a second version dated 2010, two volumes at 28 cm with facsimiles and maps.
Edward J. Kaiser's history of the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1945 to 2012, published by the department in 2013. The title nods to John A. Parker, 1909 to 2001, who figures in the book. One hundred eighty-six pages with illustrations and portraits at 28 cm.
Mark Chilton's short history of transportation planning in the North Carolina Piedmont, drawing lessons from earlier projects. Subjects include the Cape Fear Navigation Company and river navigation, and the railroads of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, including the State University Railroad Company whose spur brought trains to the two towns. Chilton was mayor of Carrboro when the book appeared. Published by Hand Made Books, Carrboro, 2012, 92 pages with illustrations, maps and portraits.
Stewart E. Dunaway's four-volume set of ejectment cases from Orange County, reproducing the original documents and maps from the North Carolina State Archives with partial transcriptions. The volumes cover 1778 to 1814, 1817 to 1832, 1833 to 1849 and 1850 to 1902. Ejectment suits contested title and possession of land, and the cases include surveys and plats. Self-published in 2010.
Stewart E. Dunaway's transcription of letters exchanged between Jesse Benton and Thomas Hart from 1780 to 1790, concerning Hart's affairs at Hartford, his place at Hillsborough. The letters concern the economic and social conditions of Hillsborough in the eighteenth century and the Revolution in North Carolina. Self-published through lulu.com in 2009, 68 pages with illustrations and facsimiles, and part of the library's Wall Local History Collection.
Albert N. Link's early history of Research Triangle Park, published in 1995 by the Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina. Topics include research parks, research institutes and industrial research in the state, with the park's own history at the center. 149 pages with illustrations and maps.
Each dated event above names its source, the place to start. For finding more on an event across newspapers, records and histories, see the research guide Follow an event across several accounts. Ask at the North Carolina Room of the Orange County Public Library for help with local sources.
Friends of the Orange County Public Library. “Chapel Hill’s sign rules and the neon ban, 1985–1989.” Orange County Indexed, https://focplnc.org/orange-county-books/storylines/sign-rules-neon-storyline-1985/. Accessed October 22, 2026.
