9 Historic District Shops to get Visit from City Building Inspector

Nine businesses in the Central Historic District can expect a visit today from a Bethlehem building inspector who will be there to inform them that they may be in violation of a city zoning law.

All nine of these businesses have neon or lit “open” signs for which they have not obtained a Certificate of Appropriateness, essentially a permit to display the sign in the Historic District.

City building inspector Phil Roeder said he is not issuing citations to any of the offending businesses, but he will be giving them letters that summon them to appear in front of the Historic and Architectural Review Board to obtain the proper permit.

“They will each come to the board to have the sign reviewed,” Roeder told HARB on Wednesday afternoon.

Along with the letter, he will be bringing business owners an “application for certificate of appropriateness,” which explains and, when submitted, officially begins the review process.

All business signs visible from the street or sidewalk are among the items in the Historic District subject to HARB review. The board recommends approval or rejection of the certificate of appropriateness to City Council, which officially grants or denies the permit.

City Council rarely ignores a HARB recommendation.

Neon or similarly lighted signs are not necessarily illegal in the Historic District, Roeder said. They can and have been approved under the right circumstances.

However, some of the offending signs flash or blink. Those signs will either have to be turned off or have the flashing feature disabled. Such lights are illegal across the city, not just in the Historic District, Roeder said.