By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer
To trash, parking and traffic, Princeton residents and visitors can now add another downtown malaise: sidewalk sign creep.
Freestanding A-frame sidewalk signs have proliferated throughout downtown Princeton, an unintended consequence of a borough ordinance written to authorize the signs only under special circumstances, Princeton Borough’s zoning officer told Borough Council at its meeting Tuesday evening.
Recently, the A-frame sign of one relatively new Palmer Square business — Salon Pure hair salon, located on the second floor above Mediterra restaurant off Hulfish Street — was cited as improper and in need of removal. A similar sign had been set in place for years by the previous tenant, Salon Vis A Vis, without objection. An adjacent second-story Palmer Square business, Berlitz language school, had also set out a sign which the zoning officer required it to remove, according to a Feb. 16 letter from Mr. Newton that was distributed at the council meeting.
The actions were triggered when the Princeton zoning department received a complaint from a second-story business that had been denied a street-level A-frame sign, said Princeton Zoning Officer Derek Bridger. The business then informed the zoning department that Salon Pure, a business in similar circumstances, placed such a sign on the street daily, Mr. Bridger said.
Upon inspection, the zoning department informed Salon Pure that the sign was unauthorized and needed to be removed, Mr. Bridger said.
Borough Attorney Maeve Cannon said the original ordinance allowed for temporary sign placements by businesses advertising a special sale or event, not to exceed 14 days. Mr. Bridger said the ordinance only applied to ground-floor businesses, with upper-story businesses precluded from placing the signs on borough streets.
The A-frame signs set out by ground-floor businesses had proliferated, and were now no longer temporary in nature, Mr. Bridger told Borough Council. “They are all over town,” he said.
”This is pretty much an unenforceable ordinance with the manpower that we have,” Mr. Bridger said.
At the meeting, David Newton, vice president of Palmer Square Management, asked Borough Council members amend the ordinance to allow his tenant, Salon Pure, to be able to set out the street sign again, which he said it took in every night. Citing the economy and Salon Pure’s need to draw street traffic to their less visible second-story locale, Mr. Newton said “the A-frame sign for them is not necessary, it is vital.”
Mr. Newton said he had mistakenly informed the owners of Salon Pure that they could legally put out the ground-floor sign when they took the space on Palmer Square. “We have a little egg on our face,” he said. Referring to the earlier Salon Vis A Sis sign, Mr. Newton said, “The fact is that sign had really been there in place since 1998, and I don’t think a violation had been called in the past.”
”I’m not asking for special treatment,” he said, but then added, “I am actually.”
Mayor Mildred Trotman said she could see the borough being accused of selective enforcement if it acceded to Mr. Newton’s request.
”I’m wondering if we might not be opening a Pandora’s Box,” if a deliberate decision was not arrived at about the signs generally, Mayor Trotman said.
Councilman David Goldfarb said such street signage “is not consistent with the image we are trying to promote” downtown. Mr. Goldfarb said he was also concerned with borough council interceding on behalf of a special request by Palmer Square. “That is a particularly attractive space, the Mediterra plaza, and I think the sign detracted from it,” Mr. Goldfarb said, noting he had never liked the Salon Vis A Vis sign.
Mr. Goldfarb said he was “present at the inception” of the original street sign ordinance. “The pitch was: times are tough for retail businesses, which is what the pitch always is,” he said. The signs were only to be for specific events and were meant to be temporary, but businesses had “taken this and run with it,” making the signs semi-permanent, he said.
Council President Andrew Koontz said Borough Council did not have the power to carve out an exception to ordinances. Mr. Koontz said Mr. Newton should instead go before the zoning board, which did have the authority to issue a zoning variance.
Mr. Newton said the process of seeking a zoning variance would cost around $6,000 and taking four to six months. “It is time consuming, it is burdensome,” he said.
Mr. Goldfarb said “I think it is worth the time and money spent to get it right before the zoning board.”
”David, I promise it won’t be four to six months,” said Borough Engineer Chris Budzinski. Mr. Budzinski said if Mr. Newton could quickly get him a completed application, he would expedite it and get it on the agenda at the zoning board’s next meeting in April.
Mr. Goldfarb said if Palmer Square had a zoning variance application pending “I think it would be reasonable to put the violation in abeyance” for Salon Pure’s sign, enabling it to continue placing it outside until a decision had been made.
At Mayor Trotman’s behest, the issue was tabled at Borough Council pending it being taken up by the zoning board.
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