Zelienople business operators took the right approach Monday in voicing their concerns to the borough council about the community’s new sign regulations.

Rather than grumbling about the regulations among themselves and expecting the council to get their message, business operators took their concerns directly to the council, openly airing their concerns with the people who have the power to make changes deemed necessary.

Only through respectful and thoughtful discussion can the businesses achieve their objectives, or at least some of them.

Based on Monday’s dialogue, the borough seems still at the starting line regarding the regulations, even though they’re in effect. The council and borough manager Don Pepe indicated that the borough was committed to working with businesses to resolve their signage issues.

It appears that will require much more discussion — and some compromises.

Regardless, the foundation for the regulations is sound — to give the business community the best appearance to attract as many people as possible.

Councilman Drew Mathew was correct when he said, “If we don’t have a sign ordinance, we will have everything under the sun,” creating a “shabby” appearance.

A hodgepodge appearance creates an unflattering image that could overshadow Zelienople’s business district’s many good features.

Triggering the latest concern about the regulations was a tour of the town by Ron Pappas, code enforcement officer, during which Pappas told business owners which of their signs were not in compliance with the new regulations.

The sign ordinance stipulates how many signs a business may display; what types of signs, flags and banners a business may have, and their sizes; and where those signs may be placed on buildings or on the sidewalk.

But Kenny Pilarski, owner of the Kaufman House, made a good point — that “people need to know who we are and where we are.”

And that was consistent with Complete Travel Service owner Nancy Welsh’s concerns about the business district being made uninteresting because of sameness.

The concerns about the sign regulations don’t need to mean that the new rules should be changed radically, ignored or shelved. Instead, the concerns indicate the need for flexibility in ways that both the business district — as the economic lifeblood of the community — and the borough as a whole can benefit.

Mathew told the business operators Monday that if they have a question or an issue, they should write it down and the council would make a ruling on it.

However, there’s an opportunity for more than that. The council should form a committee to meet with business owners, or a committee from the business community, to discuss specific sign issues now that Pappas has made a sign-based tour of the borough.

While it’s unlikely everyone will agree with every decision that is forthcoming, the committee discussions can be the foundation for further cooperation and understanding.

The messages being delivered by both sides are commendable. The challenge is to mold them into a single, workable solution with which both sides can feel comfortable.

That task should not be as difficult as it now might appear to be.