Planning board adopts electronic sign regulations

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — Nearly two months after residents approved amendments to the Land Use Ordinance on the November ballot, the Dover-Foxcroft Planning Board formally adopted regulations concerning electronic signs during a Jan. 2 meeting.

    “We had a public hearing — one more hearing — to adopt regulations,” Code Enforcement Officer Connie Sands said, adding that during the December meeting no opposition was brought up by members of the public. “It’s a matter of us adopting or doing whatever you want to do on this.”
    With four of the seven planning board members present, a motion was made to adopt the regulations but this did not proceed after not being seconded. Another motion was to table a decision, but this motion also was not seconded.
    After the second motion was not acted upon, planning board member Chris Maas wondered why the planning board was reluctant to move forward.
    Glen Villane responded by saying he was not in attendance at the December meeting and also had a change he would like to see under one section of the regulations. He also brought up the issue of electronic signs that are placed inside of a building, which is not addressed in the regulations.
    Andrew Caruso said he is new to the planning board and the regulations may be a little too draconian “if a business want to make an investment in a sign, within reason.”
    Maas said a sign committee, made up of planning board members, town officials and members of the community, “worked long and hard to put this together” and likely considered many of the possibilities that could come up in the future.
    “If you pass these they are not etched in stone,” Dover-Foxcroft Town Manager Jack Clukey said. “In my opinion something is better than nothing, and you can always change it.” He added that Sands would need some sort of regulations in place in order to carry out her duties.
    Mary Merchant said she served on the sign committee, which was comprised of members with varying views of the kinds of signs that should be allowed in town. “I think where the committee landed is a delicate balance between the two sides,” Merchant said.
    Caruso said “my biggest issue is the size of the sign” as the regulations have the limit of electronic sign square footage reduced from 32 to 20 square feet. “Twenty square feet driving by you are not going to see a whole lot,” he said. “Thirty two square feet to me is not an unreasonable sign.”
    The planning board then had a second motion to table, which was seconded but voted down 4-0. A motion was then made to pass the regulations, and during the discussion Villane said he would like the words “open to the public” added to section 3.5 concerning hours of operation.
    An amendment was made to say electronic signs may be operated later than 9 p.m., until the close of business, for any business on the same premises that lawfully is open to the public beyond 9 p.m. in the evening. The amendment was passed by a vote of 3-0, with George Barton abstaining.
    Before a vote on the full electronic sign regulations, Clukey said the Land Use Ordinance states that signs are defined as being exterior. He said regulations of signage located inside a building would need to be covered under a new ordinance.
    A motion to pass the regulations, as amended during the meeting, passed 3-0 with Barton abstaining.
    In other business, Sands told the planning board she had a question concerning home-based businesses in which operations are conducted solely on the phone and Internet.
    After a discussion Sands was directed to draft some wording for allowing establishments that do not have customers coming in, such as for selling items online. Sands’ guidelines would then be looked at and possibly voted on by the board of selectmen.
    Clukey also brought up to the planning board the concepts of impact fees and conditional and contract rezoning. “What the selectmen wanted to do was introduce this idea to the planning board for discussion,” Clukey said when introducing impact fees.
    An impact fee could be used to cover and/or assist with costs to the town related to development projects, such as roads and sidewalk improvements, with the developer funding a portion or all of the expenses. Clukey provided a copy of the development impact fee ordinance for the Lincoln County community of Dresden.
    Conditional and contract rezoning can make conditions easier for developers to work with the towns on projects. Clukey said he will draft some language for the planning board to consider at a future meeting.