By Shelby Stewart
Staff Writer
Ortonville- Downtown business owners are noticing less new customers coming into their shops since the yellow sign at M-15 and Mill Streets came down.
“It increased our business significantly,” said Lisa Paynter, owner of It’s the Little Things, 431 Mill St. “From last year, probably 60 percent. July was our best month, second to Christmas.”
Paynter said other business owners on Mill Street agreed with her that the sign she had put up had been good for their businesses. The sign had alerted drivers on M-15 that there was shopping and food downtown, and Paynter said she got at least 5-10 new customers every day.
“They look down the street and see houses,” she said. “They think it’s a neighborhood down here, so they’re all shocked when they come down and see it.”
According to village ordinances though, the temporary sign had a time limit.

“A temporary sign is allowed for 30 days out of the year,” said Dale Stuart, village manager.
Paynter is now feeling the effects of having to take her sign down, though, and wants the village to put up their own signs to help the downtown businesses.
“What I feel is that I don’t have the support of my village council like we should have,” said Paynter. “But Ortonville is fantastic, and I want to make sure people know the support we get from Ortonville is amazing.”
While the village council does have a way-finding committee that is working on cohesive signs for the village, it is a long process due to funding and designing. A lot of the work is in collaboration with other organizations, such as the Downtown Development Authority and the Planning Commission.
“Business-wise, we need that sign out there,” said Paynter. “As for business without that sign, this week, Monday, we didn’t even hit $100, where last Monday it was $500. So I just hope it gets better.”