Signs in Easthampton

The Big Sign Controversy: Signs go to Committee Regulations & Definitions "The Sound Of Truth"3/19/08 Save the Date Dave Gardner Sounds off on "Signs of Business" Signs of Business 2/28/08 David Gardner-His Side of the Sign Debate 2/28/08 A Small Win for Downtown Business Owners 2/21/08 The Moratorium 2/21/08 Abuzz 2/20/08 The Law The Blog Sound Off - tell us what you think or want others to know!

Signs Have Been Sent to Committee by Ada Counsman The EDIC Public Forum on Signs has concluded! Tom Brown, Easthampton Savings Bank Vice-President and Easthampton School Committee Chairperson moderated this afternoon's meeting. There were approximately 35-40 people in attendance on the second floor of the Easthampton Municipal Building in addition to many members of the Easthampton Development & Industrial Commission, and Zoning Enforcement Official (also know as the Sign Enforcement Volunteer) David Gardner. Easthampton District #1 Councilor James P. “J. P.” Kweicinski was the only current City Council member in attendance, and the only legislative or executive official attending. Owners of many local businesses large and small, new businesses and long standing businesses came to the meeting. Only about 1 1/2 hours were spent in conference late this afternoon, but much was said and plans were made to deal with the current sign controversy in Easthampton. The meeting commenced with an Overview of Current Ordinance by Easthampton City Planner Stuart Beckley, this document was compiled by Stuart and ZEO David Gardner and will be available on EasthamptonWeb tomorrow morning. Signage in Easthampton are currently regulated by a 13 year old Zoning Ordinance that is 11 pages in length, and by their own admission has many gray areas. Easthampton Businessman and long-time citizen Walter Mitchell brought to everyone's attention that this is an ordinance and not a law. Laws are made by the Legislature and are not flexible; Ordinances on the other hand are enacted by local government and can be changed and updated with more ease. Eric Snyder as Director of the Greater Easthampton Chamber of Commerce read a statement prepared for him by the Board Members of the Chamber. This message emphasized the Chamber's hope that City officials would engage in discussion with the business community to productively examine the current ordinance and possibly change or re-draft it to reflect the needs of the 2008 economy. The largest part of the Public Forum, the Issues and Concerns with the Current Ordinance was then opened to public discussion. And despite many fears that this would devolve into a shouting match with personal attacks, a civil discussion occurred. Some of the concerns noted were: Why enforce an old law that hasn't been stringently enforced previously? What about signs that were not available when the ordinance was enacted? Consistency of knowledge of laws among the officials is needed. An easy to understand and available package of ordinances for business is needed. Gray areas lead to confusion and discord. There needs to be a complaint process were the complaints become Public Information and are publicly available. Be business friendly. We aren't a large city like Northampton or Amherst we have small family run businesses and need to find ordinances that fit Easthampton not borrow others. The positive attitude of any enforcement of ordinance is vital. Regulations need to fit today's business environment. The ZEO addressed the question of how this whole ruckus started. He said neither he nor anyone else received any complaints, but he was struck by the unfairness of denying signage to those who went about things in the correct manor while allowing others to circumvent the law and get what they wanted. There was a lack of “Due Process” and ”a chronic lack of enforcement of a level playing field.” Someone humorously suggested “Equal Opportunity Signage!” The process to update or change this ordinance suggested by the City Planner and agreed upon by the ZEO is a “grassroots” approach of having a committee comprised of business owners, a City Council member, and a member from the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals. This Committee will be steered by Stuart Beckley and is considered an Ad Hoc Committee of the EDIC. Volunteers at the end of today's Public Forum formed this committee. Former City Council member Morgan Mitchell suggested that the City Council should “take the bull by the horns” and make adjustments to the ordinance in a more timely fashion. The entire process is expected to take 6 months or more. It was also noted that the new committee can put a petition forward and even if the Zoning Board agrees with it, the City Council can change any part of it they want before it is enacted and that it is unlikely that the City Council will just “Rubber Stamp” anything. At this point City Councilman J. P. Kweicinski stated that he is business oriented and supports Easthampton Businesses. This was met with applause, he later volunteered to be part of the new committee and to relay business concerns and the process commencing to the entire City Council at their next regularly scheduled meeting. The Chamber of Commerce agreed to meet again with Building Commissioner, Joseph Fydenkevez (who was not in attendance) and find out what businesses should expect in the way of enforcement of current ordinance during the period of time before any new ordinance could be enacted. EasthamptonWeb has offered to be a quick conduit for his response to be made available to the community. Lastly the Ad Hoc Committee of the EDIC looking at Zoning Ordinance overhaul of sign ordinance was formed. The attendees who quickly volunteered for the task are: Betty Duprey, David Duprey, David Garheeb, Albert Humphrey, Ron Sturgill, Derrick Mason, Clay Crow and James Kwiecinski. The meetings of this committee will be considered public meetings and will be posted on the City's website and on the Meetings Board according to Tom. Busy business people asked to be able to contribute to the Committee while not sitting on the committee, perhaps in a virtual manner. The Business Community has certainly taken the bait to update the Zoning Ordinances relevant to business signs!