WEST WINDSOR: Township eyeing changes in sign ordinance

By Charley Falkenburg, Staff Writer
   WEST WINDSOR — West Windsor’s revamped sign ordinance is beginning to take shape and the Township Council is doing its best to make sure it prevents sign pollution and visual clutter.
   The council met with Sam Surtees, the land use manager, on July 9 to discuss changes to the proposed revised ordinance that would potentially decrease the size and limit the location and life span of temporary business, real estate and political signs in town.
   Mr. Surtees said the decision to revise the current ordinance, which was adopted in 2009, stemmed from the amount of sign waivers the planning and zoning boards have approved over the past 12 years, which is time consuming and requires businesses to pay more money to cover attorney costs.
   According to Mr. Surtees, the planning and zoning boards have granted 35 waivers in the past 10 years and that the majority of the waivers were clustered around planned commercial developments such as Nassau Park, the Acme Center and McCaffery’s.
   ”That’s an indicator you might have to take a look at your sign code because that means the applicants are making good cases to get the boards to grant approval,” said Mr. Surtees. “We’re trying to cut out the amount of time and money a small business has to spend and the time the staff spends reviewing requests.”
   After meeting with the business and real estate communities and conducting research, Mr. Surtees developed a drafted ordinance last fall that reflects the waivers the planning and zoning boards have been approving in the past. He then met with council members Linda Geevers and George Borek in June, where they voiced concerns about the ordinance.
   The council as a whole tackled the issue at the July 9 workshop.
   Under the current ordinance, free standing real estate signs on commercial property must be incorporated into the main existing sign. In the proposed ordinance, the administration allows these signs to stay up for a maximum of two years. Mr. Surtees explained the business community thinks they need 24 months because these signs are an important tool in leasing out their office spaces.
   However, the council thought it was too long.
   ”Look, uglying up the community so you make someone’s job easier is not necessarily the route I want to go,” said Councilman Bryan Maher. “I don’t want to make their lives harder, but for two years to look at ugly signs on major roads is asking a bit much from us.”
   He suggested a six-month time span with a possible 6-month extension for the temporary leasing signs, to which the council agreed.
   The council also agreed that political signs should be allowed to go up 45 days prior to an election instead of the proposed 60 days and that they should be taken down seven days after the election.
   Mr. Surtees explained he thought 60 days would be a good time frame to start at after he had compiled data from a survey given to all the municipalities in Mercer County.
   The council also suggested limiting the temporary sign height to 4 feet instead of the proposed 6 feet and to limit the size of political signs to 16 square feet in both residential and commercial areas.
   ”I don’t know why we’re making signs bigger,” said Mr. Maher. “Attractive residential communities don’t have huge political signs. I would hope we would live in an attractive residential community.”
   The council also emphasized it did not want off track temporary real estate directional weekend signs in roundabout areas or on landscape medians. It also indicated it would prefer these particular signs to go up only on Saturday and Sunday.
   Mr. Surtees said the real estate community is concerned with this particular suggestion.
   Mr. Surtees also emphasized the proposed ordinance was also constructed to give businesses in and out of redevelopment areas the same opportunities. He explained that redevelopment districts have separate sign regulations, which allow for more temporary signs, such as banners and indicators of sales and grand openings.
   ”This puts the majority of West Windsor’s business community at a disadvantage,” said Mr. Surtees. “The administration’s idea is to be more business friendly by treating all businesses equally as it relates to temporary signs.”
   However, Mr. Maher thought the redevelopment area should be treated differently and retain its special privileges.
   ”The redevelopment area is a special part of town and I’m not sure it’s wise to take what is in a special part of town and extend that to the whole town,” he said. “I think it deserves some thought.”
   While the council appeared determined to have their suggestions made permanent, they expressed the desire to talk with the business and real estate communities to reach a compromise before any changes are set in stone.
   The ordinance is set to undergo a full blown review at the next council meeting on July 23, where the council and business community will discuss the proposed changes. Mr. Surtees said any changes made would be based on public comment and the council’s decisions.
   Depending on whether the council informally or formally sends the ordinance to the Planning Board for review, Mr. Surtees estimated the quickest the ordinance could be passed would be by the beginning of October.