Zoning Commission Eases Limits on Temporary Signs

The Planning and Zoning Commission has expanded a zoning ordinance to allow businesses and nonprofits to put up more temporary signs than they do now, and will consider the possibility of loosening regulations around permanent signs.

“We’re open to ideas,” Land Use Director George Benson said. “We just have to have ideas and talk about it.”

The zoning commission unanimously approved the expansion during a Thursday, July 7 Municipal Center meeting, now allowing businesses to apply for a maximum of six temporary sign permits in one year. Under the previous regulations, the maximum allowed was four.

“This sign legislation gives people a lot of latitude,” said Lilla Dean, the zoning commission chairman. “This is a great expansion to what we have allowed before.”

Although the revision deals specifically with temporary signs, commission member Michael Porco said he would like the town to address the issue of permanent signs, saying that the town gives allowances in some instances and is strict in other cases.

For instance, there are “for lease” signs that have been up for a decade and allowed to exist while other signs small businesses want to put up, such as those advertising lube specials, have been barred, he said.

“We have to be a little sensitive to what it is we want to encourage,” said Porco, who owns several real estate properties in town in addition to a construction firm. “We can’t just ignore the fact that businesses are struggling…We have a very unique town and we should help the businesses that help us.”

At the same time, Porco and other commission members said they did not want to loosen the regulations so much that there were signs everywhere.

“I would not like to see Newtown flagged up like a parade,” Porco said.

Dean also said she doubted the effectiveness of a sign that is allowed to stay up for a long period of time.

“They loose all meaning after they have been up for a while,” she said. “I think lots of people think that signs are going to make or break their business and I honestly don’t think that is true. I don’t think people shop that way.”

Porco said marketing seminars that he has been to have often talk about the power of road signs.

“It’s amazing how much business is incurred by those little signs,” he said. “There is a tremendous amount of interest that is drawn from that.”

Other commission members also said they have heard dissatisfaction among some merchants with regards to signs, though they said that few people come in with ideas to discuss with Benson.

“They always sit there and talk about signs but nobody goes to talk to George,” said commission member Dennis Bloom.

Benson also that it was a hard line to walk. For instance, the town recently allowed businesses to install a neon “open” sign but limited it to one window.  Although that was an improvement on a previous regulation that forbid neon signs, at least one merchant wanted to put two neon signs in a store window, he said.

Although merchants pledge to make the signs attractive, the town has little control over what the sign says, just how many can be hung, Benson said.

“We can’t control what’s on the sign,” he said. “The only think that we can control is how many”

Benson and commission members said they were in favor of revisiting the issue of permanent signs and those regulations in the future.

“If this is up for discussion and altering it, I’m all for it,” Porco said of the sign regulation.

One issue commission member Bob Mulholland brought up with regard to the temporary sign regulation had to do with when multiple businesses share a single location, such as a shopping strip mall, like Ricky’s Plaza on South Main Street. Under the revised regulations, all of the businesses in that plaza could potentially seek to put up temporary signs in front of their stores all at the same time.

While commission members talked about ways to curb such a proliferation, they decided to leave it alone, saying that would be a rare occasion, and if they did put measures to curb the number of signs on one property, town officials would be placed in the awkward position of determining which businesses would be approved for temporary signs and which would be denied.

“I’m not totally happy myself because it would allow 10 signs in front of Ricky’s,” Mulholland said, adding, “The likelihood of 10 is unlikely.”

The commission approved the following language for temporary signs:

8.01.619 – The following signs are allowed with a special temporary sign permit:

* Special Event Temporary Signs are allowed with a special permit. A maximum of 2  temporary signs at location of event, including pennants, valences, flags, streamers, inflatables, or A-frame signs are allowed provided that

1. A temporary sign permit has been issued by the Zoning Enforcement Officer
2. The permit shall be valid for a period not to exceed seven (7) days
3. Grand Opening sign permits are valid for 45 days maximum
4. The signs shall be removed within forty-eight (48) hours after the valid permit period
5. Such signs are not illuminated
6. Temporary signs shall not exceed sixteen (16) square feet
7. Maximum of six (6) temporary sign permits may be obtained in any one (1) calendar year relating to a single location
8. For profit businesses are allowed signs only at the business location
9. Non-profit permanent organizations within the Town can place one temporary sign (maximum six – 3 square feet) per lot with the permission of the property owner. One event sign allowed per lot with a maximum of twenty (20) signs per event.