ST. AUGUSTINE, FL — The St. Augustine City Commission has approved a new monument sign for Davis Shores, giving the nearly 100-year-old neighborhood a formal entrance and giving tourists one more clue that they may have crossed into a slightly different income bracket.

The sign will be installed near Davis Shores Park along Anastasia Boulevard, close to the neighborhood’s lion statues, because apparently the lions were no longer providing enough neighborhood drama on their own. City officials said the design uses approved corridor colors and lettering inspired by a historic Davis Shores brochure.

The project passed 4-1, with Commissioner Jon DePreter casting the lone no vote. DePreter argued the sign was too large, comparing it to the size of a two-car garage and saying it looked more like a condo building placard than a neighborhood marker.

Which is how you know a sign has officially become a St. Augustine issue. In most places, a neighborhood sign is just a sign. Here, it gets a historic design reference, a commission vote, a size debate, lion-adjacent placement, and at least one person wondering whether it has begun applying for condo status.

Commissioner Jim Springfield, who voted for the sign, questioned whether it could confuse visitors into thinking they were leaving St. Augustine and entering another area. He also raised concerns about whether approving it could open the door for other neighborhoods to request large signs of their own.

Other commissioners pointed out that similar monument signs already exist in West Augustine and Vilano Beach without causing confusion. Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline, who lives in Davis Shores, said the sign had broad neighborhood support and argued the historic community deserves roadside recognition.

Officials also stressed that the sign is being funded through private donations and will be donated to the city once installed, which is municipal language for “relax, this particular decorative argument is privately sponsored.”

So now Davis Shores gets its sign, the lions get a new neighbor, and every other neighborhood in town may be quietly staring at empty roadside patches with ambition in its heart.

At publishing time, the lion statues had not filed a formal objection, though sources say they are requesting final approval over anything that competes for entrance energy.