It's tough going for the tenants of Lake Highlands Plaza.

The shopping center, at the southwest corner of Walnut Hill and Audelia, has seen a lot of change in the last year.

Fred's Discount Store came and went following an unsuccessful run.

Then the Neighborhood WalMart and Washington Mutual Bank closed up shop for good.

Most recently the owner of the property, Today Realty Advisors, defaulted on its loans, leaving the remaining small businesses on their own when it comes to advertising and drawing customers to their location.

So late last week, amidst all the foreclosure news, when enforcement officers from the City of Dallas Code Compliance division made their way to these shops, they weren't exactly greeted with open arms.

Seems recent events at another locally-owned business began a chain of events that are now being felt by all the businesses located in the Walnut Hill/Audelia area.

"Last week Code Enforcement came by and dropped off the city's new sign ordinance," says T. Hee Greetings co-owner, David Farris.

Farris, together with his partner Tony Doles, owns two small businesses in the Lake Highlands Plaza center.

"These code officers have been tasked with enforcing this new law, which apparently went into effect over the summer."

"I have since been able to find out that someone called in a complaint, which seems to have forced their hand," says Farris.

"I don't know all the details, but what I've been told is that the sign ordinance was changed in 2008 and began being enforced late this year."

Farris is correct about the new city's new ordinance. According to an amended chapter, Sign Ordinance 51A-7.205 and 7.305 were in fact amended in the summer of 2008, and enforcement began one year later, in June 2009.

The fall-out is this:

- Detached special purpose signs are prohibited (i.e., yard signs or temporary signs on stakes.)
- On any building facade, a maximum of 8 words may not exceed 4 inches in height.
- Attached signs may not exceed 15% of the window or door area.
- Signs in the upper two-thirds of any window or door are prohibited.

The list continues, but the crux of the issue is this: many locally-owned businesses are struggling to stay in compliance. And as Farris puts it, "many of our businesses are struggling period."