Sign Issues Spring Up in Montville

Montville has some things to say about signs.

For starters, the town is not pleased with the large sign advertising Connecticut Scrap, which officials say David Waddington has put up on a building he owns on Route 163, at the end of the exit ramp from Interstate 395 south. The sign is so large that it might be more a billboard than a sign, said Mayor Ron McDaniel.

In the Town Council meeting on Monday, McDaniel said the town was planning to issue a cease and desist order, to get Waddington to take the sign down.

McDaniel said he had received three calls about the sign that very day. Waddington could not be reached for comment.

Meantime, the town is interested in putting up a sign on the fence in front of the building where the CT Scrap Metal sign is.

The town’s sign would say “Welcome to Uncasville / Town of Montville.” It shows the town seal and gives directions to various places in town (you can see an illustration of the sign in the photo above).

Since the sign would be on a state road, the CT Department of Transportation would have to give its blessing.

Kevin Nursick, who works for the DOT, said in an email that the department is seeing and granting permission for more unique signs.

“A good number of towns and village centers have signage welcoming and greeting visitors,” he wrote in an email. “We’ve seen them in all shapes and sizes. Every town has its own unique history and characteristics, so I imagine that’s why their respective signs, like the towns, are all different.

“I think such signage a focal point of local pride and community involvement, and I respect that,” he said.

In the Town Council meeting on Monday, McDaniel said he had thought that the sign had been vetted with the DOT, “but the state said no, that’s not true.”

He said the state is not keen on the idea of moving their own road signs. “So if they don’t move those signs, I don’t know if we can do that,” he said.

The state’s other concern, McDaniel said, is with the orange and black color scheme. On the highways, orange and black signs connote disruptions in the traffic pattern.

As McDaniel said, orange and black “are our colors.”