Starting Signage Discussion, Wilton Historical Soc. Presents to P&Z

At last night’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, The Wilton Historical Society raised the complicated issue of signage with the town planning board. Historical Society representatives presented proposed renderings of a sign system they’ve created with the help of local volunteers who have designed new, consistent signage for the three properties owned by the Society.

Presenting to the commission were Wilton resident Pamela Hovland, a graphic design professor at Yale School of Art, and A. Robert Faesy, an Historical Society emeritus trustee and architect who has worked on the restoration of Historical Society buildings. The properties the new signs are proposed for include the Historical Society’s main museum and office campus at 224 Danbury Rd.; the shops at Lambert Corner at 150 Danbury Rd.; and Cannon Corners, at 414 Olmstead Hill Rd., at the corner of Danbury Rd. and Olmstead Hill Rd..

The Wilton Historical Society has applied to revise their signage both to increase and improve branding as well as to address issues raised by retail occupants at some of the locations, some of which have relied on sandwich boards to try and increase visibility and customer traffic in hard-to-identify locations.

“The issue came to a head with the number of sandwich boards on the properties, I counted 18 at one point at the south property alone. Clearly it’s been out of hand for some time,” Faesy said.

The need for new signs is multi-reasoned, according to Hovland.

“The sign system on the three properties is over 20 years old; there’s physical decay and damage, one sign completely fell apart. In many cases, they’re in complete disrepair, in some cases they’re completely illegible, in some cases they’re completely gone. The sandwich boards at the Historical Society, there are three in a photo I took, and the tenants have many many more. This is an important project not only to the WHS but also to the retail tenants as their businesses rely on proper identification,” she said.

The issue of signage is something that GOOD Morning Wilton has covered before, in conversations with retailers and small businesses who argue for increased signage in order to attract customers.

Hovland said the design parameters in creating more cohesive signage for all three properties were well-thought out, with precise intent:

“To clearly identify the three WHS properties; to also establish the existing WHS visual identity to the sign system–the executive director and staff has been very careful to craft a graphic identity over the last couple of years, so to extend that visual language to the signs is critical to their communication strategy.  Those elements that are part of the identity–the color palate, the materials palate, the typographical palate–so it’s important to intelligently and compellingly bring that to the signs.”

Hovland explained that the concept behind the ideas for the new signs were meant to reflect both the Historical Society’s purpose of preserving and showcasing the history of Wilton, but to do so in a way that makes the museum and its events appealing to today’s audiences.

“The challenge to this project is that the WHS embraces the history of this town–they want to communicate that that’s what the mission is, but at the same time they’re really a vital part of the contemporary life of this community, that there are things going on there that are about the here and now, not just the ‘then’ part of Wilton history. The sign system, we think, does that really well, combining the historic aspects of the town and of the mission of the organization, but also embraces the visual identity, and also subtly communicates that this is a vital part of the community, doing things of interest to all ages and all time periods of the community, and that something lively, contemporary and vibrant is going on.”

Hovland reviewed the components of the signs with the commissioners, including the colors chosen to reflect the current logo of the Historical Society, as well as the addition of a black silhouette of the logo at the top–a representation of the recognizable main museum buildings–that were inspired by a photograph of a 100 year old sign that’s part of the museum collection. She also talked about the effort to incorporate typography that would be legible and readable by cars passing quickly by the signs.

All elements–the silhouette, the colors, the same typography and fonts, and the panels for individual tenants–would be used consistently at all locations. The proposal also incorporates stone bases that Hovland said were “informed by the foundations of the buildings and the vernacular of the stone fences around the town of Wilton.”

The speakers also introduced the idea of creating a banner system to publicize installations and exhibitions that would replace the museum’s need to use sandwich boards–at least at the museum location. The mesh fabric banners (as seen in this rendered illustration, at left) — either one or two — would hang on rods mounted on the facade of the building, and could be updated as often as the museum needed for exhibitions and events.

“They are inexpensive to produce, they are long-lasting and we think a nice alternative to the sandwich board visual pollution,” Hovland said. 

The commissioners seemed intrigued by the banner idea, with several noting that such banners are used by museums and other cultural institutions widely around the world, although they wanted to make sure that the mounting wouldn’t damage the historic buildings themselves.

The commissioners debated about the amount of square footage of signage already in place at the three locations in question and what the regulations say about how much the Historical Society could use. Each of the properties is located in residential districts and while the current adaptive use regulations allow variances and “alternative signage” for buildings larger than 10,000 sq.  ft. from the current signage sizes at two of the locations, there was some problem cited by commissioners that the proposed sign for the Cannon Corners location is too large for the size of the property.

The proposed sign at Cannon Corners is 25 sq. ft. in size; regulations would limit it to between 14-16 sq. ft., depending on the number of tenants featured on the sign–either two or three.

Faesy responded by saying, “I think it’s important to note that the Historical Society owns a great deal of square footage in the town, if you add it all up, and we make a real effort to keep our tenants happy. The reality of running any commercial venture is you have to have people come to your store to buy something. The proliferation of sandwich boards [happened because] the tenants became very needy quite quickly, when people didn’t know that they were there, or what they represented. This attempt is to do away with that [sandwich board usage].”

Hovland and Faesy pointed out that tenant logos would not appear on the signs–specifically the Lambert Corners sign–“to create a consistent and controlled aesthetic there, to function and not to be distracted by all those logos and identities of individual renters, to keep those off the main signs, and then they would be allowed to have their identities on their individual mounted building signs.”

Town planner Bob Nerney noted that there were three property applications, and that perhaps the commission should consider each one individually. “They are pretty distinct properties. Because each one is a separate property, they should be looked at separately.”

Commissioner Bas Nabulsi was worried about the issue of the proposed Cannon Corners sign being too large. “I’m not sure how we get above 18 sq. ft. of sign area.”

Commissioner Peter Shiue added, “The only alternative is to reduce the content or reduce the actual overall size of the sign itself. There’s really nothing that we can do.”

Nerney responded, “Short of changing the regulation, which would have ramification which might be contrary to the long-term interests of the area.”

Before closing the discussion the Historical Society was asked to prepare a smaller alternative for the Cannon Corners sign; they were also asked to compile an inventory of all the signage currently in place so that it could be considered “in totality” by the commissioners when they need to make a decision.

As Nabulsi explained, he thought that all existing building signage would have to be part of what’s counted.

“I think it’s important that we understand the totality of signage at the sites so we can potentially embrace and endorse the totality–every single sign that the applicant has in mind to have at these locations, when we’re done with this hearing process, needs to be part of the alternative signage program that we have evaluated and approved. If what you give us is focused on these new signs, and the banner, but there are other signs that are on the site used by the tenants to promote their business, and they’re not part of the application process, and we don’t include them, then I think they’re not approved. And I don’t think they’ll be happy when we’re done.”

The subject was continued to the next P&Z meeting, scheduled for Sept. 8., in order to give the commissioners time to digest the proposal presented by the WHS.