Recently, the Chapel Hill Town Council gave us a sign as to how committed it is to helping local businesses thrive, and the answer is: not enough.

For years, Chapel Hill businesses located in shopping centers were not allowed to have a street sign.

It's hard to do business without reminding residents and informing newcomers and visitors that you exist.

It's also hard for those centers to attract new tenants without offering some signage.

So the town's 2010 Economic Development Strategy group suggested changing those rules.

After five months of investigation the town staff brought forth a modest proposal allowing some area shopping centers to place one appropriately sized sign with the logos of some of their tenants along an adjacent roads.

What followed were discussions in four meetings over two months that displayed the worst of the council's addiction to micromanagement and its propensity to regulate business rather than emancipate it.

Here are a few of the issues scrutinized in the hours of debate: the display area size, the border width, the sign height, whether the background should be light or dark, whether tenants' names should be of different sizes (and if so how many sizes are allowed), even what kind of light bulbs should be used.

One member asked to use a two-week delay to think about whether the shopping center name could be in a different typestyle than its tenants.

But the central consternation focused on the most important part of the sign communication: Should a business be allowed to use its logo?

The town staff said yes, of course. Brand logos instantly communicate the company name, which is important to the customer, the business and driver safety. Besides, brand logos are already allowed on stand-alone single business signs all over town.

But many on the council were aghast at the suggestion. It offended their aesthetic sensibilities.

One council member, in two meetings, actually singled out a restaurant in town, describing its logo in terms that bordered on ridicule, repeatedly referring to it as "tacky."

Such rants have no place at council meetings. No person or business should be held up to such public scorn. Objectivity should govern our public policy decisions.

In this case, the "offensive" logo represents a truly commendable company: A small business wholly owned and operated under a national brand name by a Carolina grad who chose to stay and raise his family here. The establishment is a loyal tenant providing jobs supporting 35 people, which holds regular profit-sharing days for such diverse groups as 4-H clubs, church pre-schools and many of our local public schools, donating over $3,500 so far this year.

Rather than denying them the use of their logo to help build their business, these folks, like so many other stores, deserve a spotlight for their contributions to our community.

In the end, the council constricted the proposal. It will allow logos, but only if they are federally registered, and only if stripped of their identifying colors. Never mind local shops rarely have registered trademarks. Never mind any marketing expert will confirm the critical role colors play in defining a brand identity, a principle the council itself understood when it defended the Carolina Blue symbolism of our fare-free buses.

This should have been an easy decision. Does the council want to help our local businesses? Will having a sign bring them more business? Will letting them use the symbol that best identifies their business make the sign most effective? Yes, yes, yes.

But nothing in Chapel Hill is simple when it comes to business, which is treated like the ugly stepsister among our community's institutions.

Surrounded by competition from dynamic shopping centers in adjacent communities, our local businesses need help, particularly those relegated to the obscurity of being located in one of our shopping centers.

Our council should have been enthusiastic advocates for them. Instead, it reluctantly agreed to a trial of a watered-down plan. It took a tentative half step when it should have confidently strode to their aid.

The Town of Chapel Hill's advertising says it is "Open for Business, Open to Business." Those ads are printed in full color. Too bad it won't allow businesses to do the same.