New Sign for Country Store

Thousands of shoppers stream in and out of the shopping mall on School Street every week, but very few of them wind up a mile down in West Mansfield Village.

The new owners of the , Chris and Lauren Baker, think more people would be charmed by the idea of visiting the country's second oldest continuously operating country store if they just knew where it was.

Wednesday, they asked selectmen to consider allowing their business to install a simple directional sign after the turn from the I-495 ramp onto School Street near Mansfield Crossing, pointing down the road toward the gift and food shop they have operated for about a year and a half.

And although every member of the board seemed empathetic, they stopped short of clearing the way, at least for now, saying they were afraid of setting a precedent for one business while forbidding pop-up signs and sandwich boards for other businesses and restaurants. They also wanted to wait for a full board, as member Kevin Moran was on vacation.

The board requested Town Manager William Ross work with the building inspector, Nick Riccio, and Planning Director Shaun Burke, to lay the groundwork for a town-wide policy that would establish guidelines for signs on town owned land, and also begin to develop a uniform size and logo for signs that are allowed.

The zoning board and planning board already implement guidelines for business signs, but it's a different issue when a sign is in the town right of way at the side of a road or in a median strip. Zoning bylaws do not allow signs to be erected advertising a business that is located on a site not owned by the business.

So the Bakers are in a quandary, saying they need a way to steer vehicles in their direction, but acknowledging they must put it on town property.

"This is the worst economy in years," said Chris Baker. "We enjoy operating the store, and we're looking to expand. We get visitors from out of town - New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut - and it reflects well on the community. But Otis Street is no longer the main thoroughfare it [once] was."

Selectman Doug Annino, a former planning board member, said signs popping up in medians and at roadsides "create visual chaos." But Olivier Kozlowski, another planning board member turned selectman, noted there already is a sign at the turn to and East Mansfield on Route 106, and Baker pointed out there is a sign for the on School Street.

Annino said when he was a planning board member the board spent years on a series of permitting hearings for Mansfield Crossing."It was a big concern, that whole corridor," he said. "I'm not comfortable putting a sign for a business on town property. We should look at a way to keep all Mansfield signs cohesive. I'm afraid of putting signs up arbitrarily around town.

"If it's on town property, do we charge a fee for it? How do we develop the sizes? Should it say 'West Mansfield Village,' or list all the businesses? If we do it here, we should do it for East Mansfield and for the downtown."

Chairman Jess Aptowitz said, "We have to do what's right for everybody - it's not fair that we are ripping signs off poles for restaurants."

Aptowitz suggested the sign, if allowed near Mansfield Crossing, could say "West Mansfield Specialty Shops," and that way would not single out an individual business. The Bakers said they would be happy with something of that order.

The board will tackle the issue again in early August, after Ross has conferred with Riccio, Burke, and the planning board.