Last week, local Wilton business owner Megan Abrahamsen wrote a compelling letter to the editor about the difficulty she faced keeping her business open with the town’s current signage regulations. This week, she brought her case directly to town officials, speaking to the Board of Selectmen at their meeting Monday night, Nov. 17, urging them to help her in getting the current town signage ordinances changed.
The Blue Star Bazaar owner told them many of the same things she wrote in her letter to GOOD Morning Wilton–that she knowingly left up a temporary sandwich board sign advertising her business beyond the date for which she had a permit, even knowing that she’d be fined $100 by the town’s signage enforcement officer.
“Why would I risk getting a $100 fine? Because when the sign is in place, sales for my small business are double to triple what they are when the sign is removed,” Abrahamsen said.
She described her current permanent sign–the only one she has on the road frontage where her business is, at Lambert Corner on Rte. 7.
“My current identification is one line of text, approximately 2.25-inches high–that’s the font–and it’s about 20-inches wide. It’s black letters on a white background, combined on one sign with four other businesses,” she said, adding, “Without the temporary sign, I have almost invisible signage to identify my business to the traffic that comes by at 40 miles per hour.”
Abrahamsen seemed to make a compelling point when she compared the regulatory restrictions on the signage she’s allowed to display with the lack of restrictions on signage advertising vacant storefronts and real estate.
“You may have noticed that there are many vacancy signs in Wilton. Those same restrictions do not hold for brokers and landlords. [They] can put up very large signs to notify the public about vacant spaces, but as soon as a lease is signed to fill that space, the business that’s trying to make it there doesn’t get the same privileges. It seems like as a town, we’ve decided to advertise just how many empty spaces we have instead of the businesses that are struggling to make it.”
She also explained that while property owners are able to approach Planning & Zoning to ask for changes to current zoning regulations, tenants like her don’t have that avenue open to them.
Even as a business owner with what might be considered prime location–right on Rte. 7–Abrahamsen said it’s a constant challenge to get customers to even know she exists.
“Wilton has approximately 6,000 households. I spend thousands of dollars annually to let people in town know about my business. There are thousands more people that pass through our town each day on Rte. 7. These people drive right past my business, and without a visible sign they don’t even know I’m here,” she said.
Bill Brennan, Wilton’s first selectman, seemed moved by Abrahamsen’s plea. He said it’s something he’s discussed with both the past and current Planning & Zoning chairmen, and he will continue to push the issue.
“It’s an issue I personally feel needs to be addressed, it’s timely. We can’t promise anything, it’s P&Z’s job to review the ordinance. It is timely that we review our signage ordinance and I will continue to push that to get it on the agenda. They’ve got to take this on. Whatever they change, or don’t change, I can’t promise, but it needs to reviewed, it’s their responsibility to do that, it’s timely to do it. The last few years, during the recession, we had a lot of people putting up sandwich boards, we certainly laid off on some enforcement, because people were just trying to survive. But it’s timely to take a look–are we consistent with other towns? Are there more owners? How can we help our businesses succeed?”
He acknowledged a need for “balancing the needs of the community,” mentioning that some residents complain about too many signs.
“There’s a real balancing act, but I think it is time to look at it again, those are my personal thoughts on the matter,” Brennan said.
Abrahamsen said she was encouraged by the response she got from the BoS.
“It sounds like people are aware that small businesses need something more. I felt like they offered me as much as they could at a meeting like this, and were as receptive as I could have hoped for,” she said.