Electronic sign regulation changes eyed for a November ballot vote

Public hearing
Sept. 9
By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — For the last several months a sign committee, comprised of town officials, residents and business owners, has been looking at possible changes to the Land Use Ordinance to develop specifics for the presence of electronic signs along some of the streets of Dover-Foxcroft. The findings of the committee were a topic of discussion during an Aug. 26 selectmen’s meeting, with the matter also scheduled for the Sept. 5 session of the planning board and a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building.

    Select and sign committee member Gail D’Agostino said the group has had several meetings, each lasting for multiple hours as all the members brought in ideas for what they would like to see in the Land Use Ordinance in regard to electronic signs. She praised fellow committee member Fred Muehl for organizing everyone’s thoughts, and for driving around town with Will Wedge “to get a sense of what we have and what we could have.”
    “At our last meeting I think we came up with a recommendation we all could live with,” D’Agostino said, as seven proposed changes to the Land Use Ordinance were presented at the Aug. 26 meeting.
    The possible changes include limiting electronic signs to certain state highway areas and to pre-existing businesses that otherwise conform to the ordinance; limiting signs just to the commercial areas of the historic district; further limits on areas where pictorial images may be displayed on an electronic sign; limiting signs to a height of 16 feet; limiting the changeable portion of the sign to no more than 20 square feet; requiring all signs to be fixed to the ground and placed within a landscaped foundation; and require all signs fixed to a building facade to be framed and incorporated into the facade with the awning, canopy or other part of the structure. Each change also includes specifics on what would not be permitted under the sign committee’s proposal.
    “The process going forward, if we are going to put this on the November ballot, is the public hearing on the 9th,” Town Manager Jack Clukey said. He said the proposals can still be altered, such as with feedback at the public hearing, before an article is certified to be decided at the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
    Wedge said the sign committee members were “all over the place” with their beliefs on what should be permitted. “I think the concessions people made they didn’t do so grudgingly,”  he said. “I think we made some great concessions that will protect the beautiful look of our community.”
    As the owner of Will’s Shop ‘n Save, Wedge has an electronic sign on his business property. He said one change he has already made is a switch to earth tone colors “that blended better into the community.” When asked, Wedge said it is difficult to say if and how much business has improved as a result of the sign but he did say customers will tell him in the store they saw the prices of certain products advertised on the Will’s Shop ‘n Save electronic sign and he does not receive such comments from his flyers.
    Select Vice Chair Cindy Freeman Cyr expressed concern about the allowance of signs along East Main Street, which does follow the state highway but also falls within the historic district. “I’m concerned with the visible impact of the view coming into the community,” she said. Freeman Cyr said if every business along this stretch took advantage of the proposed Land Use Ordinance changes, “We’re really talking about a lot of changeable signs.”
    Wedge said signs can be cost prohibitive, such as at a price of $20,000, some East Main Street locations already have non-electronic signs and “digital signs might be more attractive, some would argue.”
    In other business, the selectmen gave their approval to a formal name for the town’s new park off Vaughn Street along the Piscataquis River. “The recreation committee has received a pretty lengthy list of names for the park by Brown’s Mill and they have recommended the name Brown’s Mill Park,” Freeman Cyr said.
    A total of 29 submissions, covering over 20 different name options, were received for the park. Last month a ribbon cutting formally opened what is now known as Brown’s Mill Park.
    The selectmen also accepted the resignation of Sue Mackey Andrews from the RSU 68 Board of Directors after she served for over four years. In her resignation letter Mackey Andrews said she sustained an accident at home and she is unsure how her recovery would affect her availability to serve on the school board.
    “I have to say it was with great sadness that I read Sue’s resignation from the school board,” Freeman Cyr said.
    Mackey Andrews will serve through November, at which time a new Dover-Foxcroft resident can be elected on the Nov. 5 ballot. Nomination papers will be available at the town office starting on Tuesday, Sept. 3 and are due back by Wednesday, Sept. 18.
    Clukey reported work on the Landfill Road is on schedule and should be finished by the end of the first week of September. “It should make a big difference in the winter and spring when it thaws out,” he said. “It was built up 20 inches with new fabric and a lot better base, and it shouldn’t be as soft as it used to be,” Clukey said about the travel way, which will not be as wide as before the recent improvements.
    “The website for the Riverfront Redevelopment, aka Moosehead Redevelopment, is up,” Clukey said about www.dfmill.com. The website includes renderings, information on rentals and other information.
    “We are going to put on a Punt, Pass & Kick at Foxcroft Academy for all the area kids on the 21st (of September)” Selectmen Scott Taylor said in his recreation committee report. “It’s been about five years since Dover’s held one,” he added, as participants compete to attain the greatest combined distance in the three football skills.
    The Sept. 21 Punt Pass & Kick event will start at 8 a.m. and is open to boys and girls ages 6-15.