Village Discusses Sign Code Changes

Mayor George Starkie and the discussed a proposal for a new downtown business sign code, which aims to better synchronize the look of Main Street, at a public hearing held Monday night.

"We knew that the sign code that existed was inadequate to address the look the Board and Steering Committee wanted for Main Street," Starkie said.

The sign code proposal was originally one component of the Village Master Plan to revitalize the downtown area, but the Board and Downtown Steering Committee decided to make the sign code a standalone item.

"We were originally going to do this all together, but there were a lot of people coming in wanting to redo their store signs and there are no laws on the books to bring these new signs up to standards we want to implement," Starkie said. Village Attorney Kevin Walsh confirmed this, stating that a number of sign applications had recently been brought to the Planning Board, which under current law must still implement the old criteria knowing new criteria is in the works.

At the public hearing, the Board and a small audience dissected the 11 page proposal, which includes very specific technicalities about the use of neon lights, flashing objects, back-lit box signs and the number of signs permitted per window. The proposal only applies to the downtown area.

After discussing prohibiting flashing and neon lights, types of signs that the board collectively doesn't favor, Attorney Walsh instead suggested putting in a provision that says flashing signage is not favored. This allows neon lights and flashing signs to exist, but only be possible through a special use permit which must be approved by the Board.

The proposal also has a provision that gives stores three years to conform to the new sign standards. This will also apply to stores that have recently received signage approval like and , simply because they did not go through the new process.

Starkie stressed that he does not want the new code to be a "terrible hardship" for the store owners. The Community Development Block Grant the village received will be used to help offset this cost for many of the stores.

"We are paying 80 percent of the cost to changeover to be in compliance and we already have 23 stores signed up," he said.

Audience members commented that the proposal was overly technical, suggested that all sign applications should just come before the Board and proposed changing the language to say that the code only applies to commercial properties in the downtown area.

The Board voted to keep the hearing open until the February meeting, where they will cast the final vote on the proposal. In the upcoming days, the proposal will be sent over to the Nassau County Planning Commission so the county can weigh in on the proposed local law.