Proposed sign ordinance raises concerns
By Kate Daly Assistant Editor

A plaza sign standing at Route 20 and South Bolton Street would be too tall under a proposed sign ordinance. PHOTO/KATE DALY

Marlborough - "Sign, sign, everywhere a sign," the song says, and the Urban Aff airs Committee of the City Council was hoping to discuss prevention, and even repair, of the rest of the lyrics: "Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind."

According to Urban Affairs Chair Patricia Pope, the committee's eff orts to open a discussion and update a 20-year-old ordinance will likely come to naught - for now.

According to some in the business community, that's a good thing.

At the heart of the controversy is the sign ordinance, a 50-page document written in the 1980s. It was time to streamline and update the old document, Pope said.

"Nobody has looked at in 20 years. Things have certainly changed technology-wise and we just thought it was a good time to look at it," she said, "and evidently we were wrong."

Wrong because the document the committee hoped would become a starting point for discussion got stuck in debate, Pope said.

"We never really got a chance to discuss the ordinance [proposal]. We met four times and it got bogged down," she said. "It was never going to go anywhere."

The opposition was from business owners, some who sent letters and some represented by the Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce.

At its Aug. 14 meeting, the committee voted to send the ordinance proposal to the City Council, which will hold a public hearing on it Monday Sept. 10.

Reaction to the proposal

Rick Lombardi, owner of the Vin Bin on South Bolton Street, objected to the proposal's limit on when lighted signs can be on; it stipulates that signs should be turned off at 10 p.m.

"My business is allowed to be open until 11 p.m.," Lombardi said. "Does this mean my sign has to be off from 10 to 11 p.m. even though I'm open? How fair is that?"

The Vin Bin sign consists of simple maroon letters above the store. Another sign at the corner of the plaza is part of a larger sign listing plaza occupants.

"[The proposed ordinance] would hurt lots of businesses like mine that are in plazas," Lombardi said. "How would anyone know where to find us if they can't see our sign or if they can't easily see our sign?"

Douglas J. Rowe, a lawyer and member of the Chamber of Commerce board of directors, also had concerns. He said the proposal would limit standing signs to eight feet, while many trucks are eight to 10 feet high, and so would block those signs.

"I think the Chamber basically feels that the new ordinance would make a substantial change in all existing signs, literally," he said. "I think the committee worked very hard, but I think they failed to consider the economic impact."

Rowe, a longtime resident, said the city has an industrial history, and with that comes commerce.

"It's not a little bedroom community. It never was. It's always been an industrial type of community, and the business supports a lot of the activity of the city," he said. "You can't hide try and hide everything that's here."

Lombardi agreed. "Marlborough is a commercial city. People come here to shop and search out stores," he said. "How would they find what they are looking for if we drastically reduce signage?"

Lombardi said he'd like to know what's wrong with his sign.

"In the three years I've been in business and the 25 years I've been in town, I can't recall anybody complaining about signs," he said. "I would love to hear what the reasoning is. I would love to hear why our signs are bad."

Pope said the motivation behind the proposal was simply modernization and simplification, noting that the old ordinance has a lot of gray areas that the committee tried to clear up. It was also seen as an opportunity to improve, she said

"It was the feeling of a lot of folks, since we were going to look at it maybe it was time to clean up some of the signs," she said. "It was not a hidden agenda."

Under the proposed ordinance, many businesses would have to replace their signs, an expensive proposition, Rowe said.

"I think the Chamber recognizes some signs need to be changed," Rowe said. "I think there are some areas of the sign ordinance that could be changed and the Chamber is willing to work on it and change it, but this ordinance as presented is just not acceptable."

Pope remains optimistic that while this proposal never got to be the "starting point" she hoped it would be and will likely go nowhere for now, that eff ort is not wasted.

"I think everybody is in agreement that it's not a bad thing to have done," she said. When the timing is better and the city looks again at the sign ordinance, "there's a good starting document on the shelf for somebody to look at."

According to Ernie Houde, of Weichert Realty on Route 20, the existing sign ordinance isn't enforced.

"I feel there are illegal signs out there, signs since the year 2000, but they haven't had the people to enforce it," he said. "They should enforce the existing [ordinance]."

Houde, who recently relocated, said he invested in a large, computerized sign to attract business. His sign also advertises public service announcements for free, he said.

As for restaurateur Joseph Ferro, he's not worried. He just opened Allora Ristorante across from Lake Williams, complete with a tall sign.

Allora is just his most recent business in more than 20 years in Marlborough. The current ordinance is ample, he said.

"The city's smart. They're not going to do anything to hurt the businesses here," he said. "They're smart people. They're going to do the right thing."