Restaurant owner spars with town of Penfield over banner

PENFIELD, N.Y. (WROC-TV)

The Five Mile Café in Penfield has been quite the busy place over the past couple of weeks, because of a sign on the building's store front that reads, "God Bless America."

It’s a simple sign, but the town of Penfield has an issue with it.

“They said no because I already used up my allotted banners for the year, which is three weeks,” said cafe owner Jennifer Aquino.

Aquino says the town of Penfield asked her to take down the sign, because of an ordinance limiting signage of any kind, no matter what it says.

For a while, Aquino listened and put the sign inside her cafe.

“And then Orlando happened,” said Aquino. 

Going against the ordinance, Aquino put the sign back up, and since that terror attack, it's been above the cafe's porch.

Aquino says the town continues to ask her to bring it down.

“I thought maybe I'd get a fine or a slap on the wrist, you know,” said Aquino. “I didn't think it would be this big of an issue.”

Since word got out about the sign, the phones have been off the hook.

“A lot of response from customers, soldiers, people all around the united states calling me and leaving me messages of support,” Aquino said. 

The town of Penfield said in a statement that the words “God Bless America” have nothing to do with the situation. They say the only issue they have with Aquino is how and when the sign is displayed. 
      
For now, the banner is staying put. The Penfield Fourth Of July parade is Saturday at 10 a.m., and The Five Mile Café does have permission to keep the banner up for the day.

Copyright 2016 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.