Williamstown ZBA Approves First Sign Applicant
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Zoning Board of Appeals this month approved a painted sign on a brick wall advertising a new Water Street vendor.
The Coffee Shop at 10 Water St. was before the board seeking permission under the town's sign bylaw to post advertising on the Main Street side of the Provisions building at the corner of Main and Water Streets.
The 88-square-foot image exceeds the maximum allowed by right under the bylaw, which, in years past, would have meant a trip to the now-defunct Sign Commission.
Instead, earlier this summer, the Select Board appointed the ZBA to act, temporarily, as the sign commission, while town officials craft a new sign bylaw which they hope to bring to town meeting as soon as May 2026.
The Coffee Shop showed the board a rendering of a planned 8-foot wide mural depicting a cup of coffee superimposed on stylized machine works with the words "The Coffee Shop" and "Art, Coffee, Wine, Cheese, Shop," for the business operating between Provisions and the Roam Gallery.
The bylaw allows signs up to 16 square feet to be approved by Town Hall staff. The 8-by-11 mural proposed by The Coffee Shop required committee review.
The new advertisement echoes existing artwork elsewhere on the exterior of the business, Community Development Director Andrew Groff told the ZBA members.
"They have just artwork by the same artist already on the side of the building that faces the porch," Groff said. "I determined that's not a sign. It's not facing the public way, and it's not meant to express any language. It's just a picture."
The board members took no issue with the content of the proposed mural facing Main Street (Route 2).
"It's certainly more interesting than a blank brick wall," Vince Pesce said.
The board did, however, about a one-word answer on the application for the sign. The applicant indicated that the sign would be illuminated but provided no details about the lighting scheme.
"If there is a light, it should be clearly facing down and not reflecting into the eyes of people driving by," David Levine said. "I've seen signs where you get blinded by the light pointed to it. I don't know whether it's a ground spotlight pointed up or a fluorescent light pointing down."
No one from The Coffee Shop attended the Aug. 21 meeting where the sign was considered.
The board opted, unanimously, to OK the sign, which was painted on the wall about 10 days later, but to continue the hearing until its Sept. 18 meeting so the members can consider the lighting question with more information.
At its June meeting, the ZBA considered whether it wanted to be in the position of approving signs.
Groff explained, in June, that due to attrition, the Sign Commission was down to one sitting member and, therefore, could not function, leaving applicants like The Coffee Shop without a path for approval of new signage.
Groff said the Zoning Board of Appeals, a quasi-judicial body with experience assessing proposals through the lens of town bylaws, was a natural short-term solution to that problem.
The goal is to create a streamlined process that allows for more approval by staff and less reliance on public hearings before bodies like the ZBA.
"I think there will, in the future, be a narrow role for this board," Groff said. "For most applications, I'd say an applicant would come in, look at our bylaw, fill out an application and get it approved."
A bigger conundrum is how to make the town's outdated sign bylaw comply with current First Amendment case law.
"We [in the bylaw] privilege non-profit, community speech over commercial," Groff said. "And the Supreme Court has told us we can't do that anymore."
Groff said he is hoping to work with town counsel and a task force that includes the last remaining Sign Commission member, Anne Singleton, to draft a new bylaw proposal.
"The big issue I have not figured out how to deal with and neither has counsel is how do we allow appropriate signage that's necessary for certain kinds of commerce in town … without opening up the town green to commercial speech," Groff said.
ZBA member Andrew Hogeland noted that weekly signs advertising the Farmers Market on Spring Street are an example of the kind of signs the town should allow.
"We need those," Groff said. "We want those. I don't think anyone in town would be particularly pleased if – when you drive around other towns and it seems like at least twice a year there's a furniture store having a ‘going out of business' sale and there are a million signs with a black background and neon letters all over the place.
"Really, the rub is those temporary signs are so cheap and easy to produce."
Groff said the town and its attorney first started looking at a new sign bylaw in January 2020, a effort that was stalled due to the global pandemic that began two months later. He said the working group addressing the issue now hopes to have a draft proposal ready to present to the Select Board this winter in time to get on the annual town meeting warrant.
Tags: signage,
