Kissimmee commissioners Tuesday backtracked on a previous decision not to allow human signs, agreeing on a new ordinance that would temporarily make this kind of advertising legal on private property within commercial districts of the city.

“I was originally against this,” Commissioner Cheryl Grieb said Tuesday. “I am considering this because of the county passing the ordinance. It puts us in an awkward position not having it.”

City Manager Mark Durbin said that staff did not recommend allowing human signs, given the potential safety hazard and distraction to motorists. However, if the commission was set on passing such an ordinance, staff had brainstormed 24 possible stipulations they would like to see in place.

Fifteen of the suggested stipulations were based on the county’s ordinance, including requiring businesses to obtain a license, have human signs out only during business hours, not allowing human signs to stand on any object, including boxes, ladders, stilts or roller skates and not “spin, twirl, swing, toss, throw or gyrate” the sign.

The city recommended additional restrictions, such as requiring the business to have liability insurance and keeping the sign on the same lot as the business.

Commissioner Jerry Gemskie said he didn’t favor the concept from the beginning and didn’t agree with allowing human signs, even with 24 restrictions on the practice.

“This is a workload on our code enforcement,” he said, explaining that signs were problematic in the 1980s before the commission at the time banned the practice. “I just don’t want to see history repeat itself. I think it’s just opening a can of worms.”

Mayor Jim Swan also was against human signs, explaining that he has seen human signs in Clermont, waving and jumping in front of his car.

“It is a distraction … that’s what I’ve seen with my own eyes,” he said, bringing up another issue. “If we allow it in one type of business, how do we disallow it in another? Unfortunately, we have one business in this community that sells I guess what people would call pornographic stuff. Are we going to have those folks out there with a sign, a human sign?”

John Dick, co-owner of Orlando-based Gotcha Creative Media, said his company was one of the largest providers of human sign bearers in the nation, providing more than 200 part-time jobs.

“In the five years I’ve been providing this service to clients to help grow their business … we’ve never had one incident,” Dick said. “I have yet to see or witness the sorts of behaviors that you guys are describing or fear.”

Dick said he worked with Osceola County on its ordinance. He specifically spoke out against one stipulation suggested by staff that required the business to post a bond with the city, directly from which fines could be charged should any violations of the code occur.

The commissioners took some time debating which recommended stipulations should be passed with the new ordinance.

“We sound like Washington up here,” Gemskie said, referring to the federal government. “We’re not sure what we want to do up here, but let’s pass it through and we’ll worry about it later. I just don’t think this is the right thing to do. If it's going to pass, I say we leave all the restrictions the way they are.”

In the end, Commissioner Carlos Irizarry motioned to pass the ordinance with 21 of the 24 restrictions city staff had recommended. The three stipulations struck from the list included restricting a human sign to either a held sign or a costume, keeping minors from being allowed to become human signs and requiring the business to post a bond with the city.

The motion passed 3-2, with Swan and Gemskie dissenting.

Durbin said it would still take about 45 days before the new ordinance goes into effect. The change to the land development code must be advertised to be heard in front of both the Planning Advisory Board and the City Commission again for final approval.