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Newburyport: City Council to take another look at A-frame sign rules

By Stephen Tait
Staff Writer
Published: June 2, 2008

NEWBURYPORT — Martha Leahy says the A-frame signs that dot the downtown retail district help to encourage residents and visitors to shop locally — an important aspect of keeping the city vibrant.

"I think they are a good idea for businesses a block or two from downtown (State Street)," she said while walking through the downtown. "There are a lot of little treasures here."

But the Newbury resident, who has worked in downtown Newburyport for more than two decades, says while they serve an important role, there should be some sort of standardization of the signs.

"I think if they were the same size, that would be nice so they don't look tacky or anything," she said.

Those regulations could soon be coming.

City councilors plan to take up the issue of the A-frame signs at a meeting Friday, said at-large Councilor Kathleen O'Connor Ives, chairwoman of the License and Permits Committee.

Regulations for the signs, which serve as minibillboards for stores downtown, but at the same time cause clutter on the district's sidewalks, need tweaking, Ives said.

Right now, to get a sign, store owners must go to the city clerk's office and pay a $50 fee. And the signs are supposed to be directly in front of the stores.

But Ives said some people aren't paying the fee and others aren't obeying the rules on sign placement.

Also, she said some people, like Leahy, have concerns about the differing styles and sizes. Still others say the signs cause unneeded clutter on the streets and sometimes block curb cuts for pedestrians.

"We basically need to address it because it is haphazard and it is not fair for people who pay," she said. "We need to make a decision on what standard we want."

Ives said the "opinions go across the spectrum on what to do." She said the meeting Friday, at 5:30 p.m. at the bullnose in Market Square, aims to get the ideas on the record.

"It is basically just to address the signs because some people downtown would like to see them done away with entirely," she said. "So (the meeting) is basically to entertain all opinions and make a decision."

The city first started regulating the A-frame signs in the summer of 2006. The city put regulations on where A-frame signs could be placed — in front of the stores they advertised — and also enacted a $50 sign permit fee.

Business owners showed some resistance to the new rules, especially those off the beaten path — on streets branching off State and Pleasant streets. Some say they lost business because people no longer knew the businesses existed.

City leaders also mulled over a plan to place directional signs at street corners, but that never came to fruition. Meanwhile, the Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce and Industry is trying to get City Council approval for a downtown directory on a granite base installed in Market Square.

This summer, the signs have crept back out to the corners of streets.

On the corner of Liberty and State streets, for instance, usually stand four signs advertising Abraham's Bagels and Pizza, Rocas, Pralines and The Boston Chowda Co. Those signs are often placed on top of granite pilings that line the sidewalk.

"Right now they are kind of scattered," Ives said. "The summer season is here and (with it) the more I see."

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