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Above, new signs planned for former location of British Beer Company
The Franklin Design Review Commission met via Zoom on Tuesday Evening. Chair James R. Bartro, as well as vice chair Samuel Williams, members Gerald Wood, KP Sompally, and Mark Fitzgerald participated as did town staff member, Maxine Kinhart.
And they covered a lot of ground. First up was a proposal from The Raillery Public House at 280 Franklin Village Drive, a site formerly operated by the British Beer Company. A representative of the Raillery said they were planning to replace existing signage on the same “foot print” used by BBC.
Chair Bartro commented that their applications seemed in order and covered all the bases, but asked the applicant to briefly describe what they proposed. This was done and commissioners followed with comments and question
Fitzgerald noted that although it is not a requirement, applications from the Village Mall area in the past had come with an explicit statements of permission from the landlord. The applicant indicated that they did have a letter of support for the signage.
Bartro, for his part, complimented them on the black background for the sign “We are trying to phase out white,” he explained.
Wood asked whether the colors shown on the applicant were final and was told they were, but the exact codes were not yet incorporated in the application.
The Commission voted unanimously to approve the signage with the stipulation that the colors as represented reflect the actual signs.
Signage for “Joe’s Kwik Mart” at 251 East Central Street was discussed next. This site was formerly the Speedway gas station and is now being reconfigured as part of a sale of approximately 100 Speedway locations. Much as with Raillery, the Kwik Mart signs were mostly replacing existing signage on essentially the same area. The applicant was not sure whether a “pylon” sign was planned for the site, so the Commission approved only the requested building signs with the note that signage on the pumps had been approved previously (the change to Mobil) and that a pylon sign would require an additional application process.
Cam Afonso of Signs by Cam was next before the Commission with proposed signage for Sierra’s Pizza, at 370 King Street, home of Spruce Pond Creamery for some 20 years. Afonso said the existing, pylon sign is coming down and the plan is for an internally lit sign to replace it. Afonso said regulations would allow a sign of up to 20-feet in height but the applicant was only going to 16 feet.
Fitzgerald commented that the Creamery had kept a decrepit “open” sign draped on their pylon for many years. “That’s why we are wary about temporary signs,” he added.
After a brief further discussion, the Commission voted unanimously to approve signage for the project.
Then, Bartro noted that it was long overdue for the Commission to think more about enforcement. “I don’t want to call this a crackdown but we do need to make sure regulations are enforced, otherwise it is not fair to those that follow the rules,” he said.
Bartro said he had opened a discussion with Building Inspector Lloyd “Gus” Brown. The discussion led to a suggestion that outreach be conducted with the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Partnership to encourage voluntary compliance as much as possible.
Bartro also revisited comments he made in the previous meeting about “revisiting” the sign bylaw to keep it up to date. “We don’t see a lot of correlation between the success of a business and the amount of signage and lights and banners,” he said.
Kinhart said she had mentioned the idea to Bryan Taberner, the Director of Planning and Economic Development, and he was very open to the idea and would be happy to come to a meeting to discuss the topic. Williams suggested the Commission take some time to form their own preliminary ideas so that such a meeting could be more productive.
All agreed to consider the topic and set a goal to arrange a meeting in the near future.
Below, signage proposed for former site of Spruce Pond Creamery.
