Barbershop Blues

A controversy between a local barbershop and a town official in the town of Hamburg has grown to hair-raising heights.
The conflict arose over an advertisement displayed in Taylor Mae'd Barbershop's window featuring a bikini-clad woman and the slogan, 'You need a trim?'
Jack Quavis, owner of the barbershop, says his advertisement is meant to attract customers and is not offensive.
However, Don Sickau, assistant code enforcer for Hamburg, saw it differently.
Last week, Sickau responded to a complaint of an inappropriate image being displayed at the shop and asked for the sign to be removed, according to Quavis.
The sign, a 3.5-foot-tall and 2-foot-wide poster, is displayed in the front of the store, which is set 40 feet back from the road, according to Quavis.
'[Thousands of] cars go by here a day and they hear one complaint then want the sign out,' Quavis said. 'I haven't found a customer that dislikes it…it's like anything else, it's something to capture people's attention.'
Quavis doesn't feel that his sign is offensive, stating that many modern advertisements and shops use much more graphic images and offensive material.
'You can walk into any Abercrombie & Fitch or any of those other stores in the mall and you got a half-naked teenage girl with only her arms covering her breasts,' Quavis said. 'Even the town code enforcer's boss told me that he has seen worse billboards all over town. And to be honest, I feel targeted. If you're going to complain about a girl in a bikini in the town of Hamburg, you might as well go close Hamburg Beach.'
Kurt Allen, the town of Hamburg's supervising code enforcement official, admits that the situation was not handled properly.
'Mr. Sickau thought it would be a simple solution,' Allen said. 'He thought it would be a quick fix in response to the complaint to have the poster removed.'
According to Allen, Sickau did not act properly and should have taken more time to review all the zoning regulations and local laws that pertain to the situation.
'I don't have a problem with [the advertisement],' Allen said. 'Obscenity has a full range, based on who perceives it or whether its obscene or not; it's a subjective issue.'
Allen said what matters most is that regulations are upheld and enforced in the town of Hamburg. In this case, no nudity was present and the sign did not breach any local laws.
'I would understand if I thought it was offensive,' Quavis said. 'If I broke some code or something I would be the first to take the sign down, but if I wanted to, I could have a girl standing out there with a bikini on holding an open sign.'
In regards to the meaning of the sign, Quavis feels that 'it's a play on words,' and 'clever advertising,' with the intention of bringing in business.
'The initial complaint came from a resident who drove by and called into our office and described it as an obscene picture,' Allen said.
In response to the complaint, Sickau went to the shop and asked for the sign to be removed.
'The bottom line is, a code enforcement officer came to my business, knocked on my door and asked me to remove the sign because one person complained about it,' Quavis said. 'He never showed me a written complaint from anybody, never showed me a statute in the town code about it, he never showed me anything.'
Sickau was reprimanded for his actions, but the way it was handled is confidential, according to Allen.
'He mishandled it and should have reviewed the town laws and zoning codes before responding to the complaint,' Allen said.
When asked for comment, Sickau declined.
'I haven't found anyone who dislikes it yet,' Quavis said. 'If you look at the picture on Facebook there's over 50 comments on the picture from both guys and girls alike. I couldn't find one person [who dislikes it].'

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