David Martin, owner of the 78-acre plot known as South Hills Mall, has agreed to take down and replace the shopping center's signature sign, ending more than two years of litigation with the town.

If Martin takes down the sign by the end of May, the town will waive $484,850 in accrued fines.

"I just want to get along with Cary," said Martin, 82. "I'm now excited we can build Cary up together."

It was a marked shift in tone for Martin, a staple in the Cary Christian community and a well-regarded developer who runs Martin Properties.

In August, he vowed not to back down to the town's demands no matter how many fines he incurred.

"I don't intimidate easy," he said then.

The town filed the lawsuit against Martin in December 2007, saying the "pole sign" violated the town's sign rules.

The red changeable letters and the poles supporting the gray and white sign were not allowed.

Martin resisted. He said he bought his property when Cary was just a village and that new rules shouldn't apply to his sign, which has welcomed travelers to his Buck Jones Road shopping center since the 1970s.

"I'm a red-blooded American, and I just wanted to stand up for what was right," he said.

With a mediator and the coaxing of Bob Dascombe, his son-in-law and business partner, Martin recently eased up.

"I give them credit. They got an old, stubborn man to change," he said. "I'm at a point in my life where it's more important to build relationships than anything else."

The new sign will follow the rules, Martin promised.

He'll move the sign up several feet and make sure at least 70 percent of the sign is brick, to match with the buildings surrounding it - one of the rules of the land ordinance.

Martin still has over three months to keep the relic up. And he's making the most of it until then.

On Wednesday, he climbed a ladder and affixed a new message to the sign that celebrated the release of Gregory Taylor, the Cary man who spent 17 years of his life in prison for a murder judges found he did not commit.

The red-lettered message read: "JOHN 8:32: TRUTH SET GREG TAYLOR FREE PTL."

Martin, involved with prison ministry for years, said he'd been following Taylor's case closely and likes when his signs share scripture.

Though it appears he's had a change of heart about Cary's sign laws, Martin said his gray, white and red sign won't be thrown away.

"I'm going to do something real newsworthy with this sign," he said, with a glint in his eyes.

"But you'll just have to wait and see about that."