Yard Sign Outside 'What The Hair Is Going On With Deana!?!?' Draws Mpls. City Inspectors

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- There is a yard sign in northeast Minneapolis that is getting the attention of city inspectors.

Deana Drews has run a salon out of her home near 31st Avenue and Johnson Street Northeast for 13 years. She says she had to hustle to bring in customers when she first opened.

"I dropped off a lot of flyers. Anybody I would meet, I'd say, 'Oh hey, I do hair,'" Drews said.

She put several signs up years ago so customers could find her business -- What The Hair Is Going On With Deana!?!? -- from the busy main street and the back alley. But a garden flag sign with her house numbers and business name pushed some over the edge.

A city inspector showed up last week, telling Drews a neighbor complained about the sign, calling it offensive.

"I take great pride in the house, and so it bothered me that someone was so upset about a silly sign, and I thought, 'We were neighbors. Why wouldn't you just come knock on my door?'" Drews said.

The city of Minneapolis has about two pages of requirements when it comes to running a business out of your home, including:

Signage shall be restricted to one non-illuminated, flat wall, identification sign not to exceed one (1) square foot in area. On a corner zoning lot, two (2) such signs, one facing each street, shall be allowed.

Drews admits she has more than one sign, but says most are on parts of her property most wouldn't see.

"I am stretching the rules, I get it, but they're on my property, so I feel like unless you're on my property you can't see any of these signs," Drews said.

She days the city is working with her to come up with a solution, though she thinks the ordinance should be reconsidered entirely.

"I think a lot of people work from home now, and this is my livelihood and I don't think that my signage is obnoxious," she said. "I just want to do my job. I just want to keep my business as it is."

Drews tells us she has been fined once before for a flagpole on her tree years ago. She says the inspector told her to take the signs down by Monday.

WCCO reached out to the city for an update, and officials say a citation has not been issue.