By Genevieve Jinson, Community Reporter
Northborough – The Board of Selectmen discussed at its June 11 meeting the influx of signs that have popped up recently in the town's center.
Selectman Jeff Amberson noted that he has received numerous complaints from residents in the past few months regarding this issue.
Bill Farnsworth, the town's building inspector, said that part of the problem is that businesses and residents interpret the town's sign bylaw individually and do not fully understand what signs are allowed and what are not.
“I have said to a lot of businesses you can over-sign as well as not have enough signage. Too many signs are going to distract people and make it look more like a circus and that's not good for business,” Farnsworth said.
Sign enforcement is another issue, he said. If a complaint comes in, the town has 14 days to respond. If town officials choose not to respond, they must notify the complainant as to why they did not.? Anonymous complaints are often unsuccessful because officials cannot circle back to the complainant to explain why the complaint was not acted upon.
Issues with signs have become a problem especially for those businesses that don's have visibility directly from a main road, such as those located on Lake Street and the Northborough Plaza.
Complicating matters for businesses in the center of town is the on-going construction, Farnsworth said. ?And when businesses see their competitors putting up additional signs, they will then also put up additional signs, “then you'se got twenty signs all lined up and it's hard to read any of them,” he added.
Selectman Leslie Rutan commented on the issue.
“Bottom line is I look at this as the beautification of Northborough because, quite frankly, we don’t have a beautiful downtown area with a lot of green space. I think to be throwing all sorts of signs in there just make it look like this muddled area that you drive into,” she said.
Bill Pantazis, the board's chair, added, “We'se trying to be a business-friendly community, too. We want to research this and come up with a plan of action.”
John Coderre, the town administrator, recommended that he and Farnsworth delve deeper into the issue and then report back to the board.